


Blood Petals

by MinervaHope



Series: Blood flowers [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Draco Malfoy & Ron Weasley Friendship, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Hanahaki Disease, Harry Potter is Bad at Feelings, Jealous Harry Potter, Jealousy, M/M, Oblivious Harry, Past James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Past Relationship(s), Pining, Pining Draco Malfoy, Redeemed Draco Malfoy, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-18
Updated: 2020-08-16
Packaged: 2021-03-04 17:31:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 27
Words: 69,916
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25370152
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MinervaHope/pseuds/MinervaHope
Summary: Draco Malfoy follows Harry Potter into the ministry in fifth year.OrHow Draco Malfoy managed to bring shame into his family, get hanahaki and bring Potter’s father back from the dead, all in one day.
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter, Draco Malfoy/Theodore Nott, Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley, Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley, Sirius Black/James Potter
Series: Blood flowers [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1883086
Comments: 332
Kudos: 983





	1. The deal.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! This is the first work I post ever so please be kind... English is not my first lenguage so I apologize in advance for the grammar error I may have.  
> If you read the tags you know this but just in case I have to make clear that this will be a Drarry fic with background Prongsfoot.  
> It’s rated T for the vocabulary, for now it will be mostly awkardness, pining and Sirius and James trying to be parents while they figured their feelings out.  
> Enjoy!  
> ps: please comment if you liked it

It was rather bizarre to think that Draco Malfoy, Slytherin prince, had put himself willingly in this position. Looking back to it, following Potter and his gryffindors into the ministry was just stupid. No award that could had been given by Umbridge for catching them all by himself was worth this. Not even scarhead ridiculous face when they would finally expel him.

It was easy enough, the others were too caught up in their nonsense plan to notice him following them with another thestral. Once they had infiltrated the ministry he just kept his distance, put a notice me not on himself just in case and moved along with them. At this point Draco was intrigued, what the hell was this important to have Potter this anxious and murderous at the same time...he just kept talking about this bloody door. Draco was intrigued indeed.

What’s most curious about this whole fucking situation is that Draco Malfoy had known that he was in love with Harry bloody Potter since he saw him at Madam Malkin’s. Even with the horrible clothes and the glasses sightly crooked, the blond boy saw him and instantly fell in love, of course that was a disaster and it became more embarrassing when the beautiful boy refused to shake his hand on the train while defending the weasel. Draco Malfoy always thought he was good at hiding this very problematic feeling because, since he knew it existed, he would just do his very best effort in hating Potter every morning of every day since he was eleven. Never in his life thought he would act so utterly stupid and let it be known that he loved Harry bloody Potter.

“Give me the prophesy and your friends will be... Draco? What in Salazar’s name are you doing here?”  
The Malfoy heir thought about answering that he had a very stupid idea and now he was here, but his father was with aunt Bella, the rest of them were masked; this were full grown dark wizards against a group of fifteen year olds, it didn’t fucking feel fair. Trust him to get a conscience when less needed, Merlin. At this point, Potter and his lot where all staring at him like he was a death eater himself. So he put his most disgusting grin and spoked.

“Hello, father. I came to help, of course.”

“See, Lucius! I told you he would be an excellent addition to the ranks, look at him, he is already doing more for the cause than we did when we were at school.” It was surreal how much he hated aunt Bella sometimes. How did his angel of a mother came to have such lunatic as a sister was frankly a mistery.

He looked at Potter directly in the eyes and muttered “run, now”, he frowned and gave Draco a look of understanding. Then the prophesies were all falling and they were all running away from there together. And that’s how Draco Malfoy found himself firing spells to his own blood next to The Veil. The day just kept getting creepier and ridiculous by the minute.

He really was terrified through it all. Not that he was going to show it in front of the gryffindors, thank you very much. And of course they were all caught by full on death eaters. It was ridiculous. Where was the pureblood honor or whatever in fighting fifteen year olds?

“Get off my godson” The punch was immaculate. Suddenly, the fighting restarted and they asked them, the students, to stay out of it. Draco then pulled a face because, why the hell would he put himself in the middle of trained wizards, seriously. He heard Potter complain and step forward, and (against every logical attempt to keep his dignity) the blond boy caught Potter's arm and pulled him back next to him.

“Malfoy, what the hell.”

“Does that scar fuck with your brain or something? I figured you were an idiot a long time ago but suicidal, Potter?” 

The dark haired boy just stood there, frowning at him with a disbelieving look in his eyes, as if he were trying to understand him. But then they heard Sirius Black in trouble and Potter ran to him so fast, and he ran behind him of course, because fuck dignity he would most likely be blasted off the family tapestry anyway just for helping the blood traitors and the mudbloods earlier.

He saw his aunt, watching his cousin while he was fighting his father, with the smirk that he hated. It sent chills down his spine. And, suddenly, he knew. Potter was too focused on the fucking fight, he couldn’t see her raising her wand, vile look in her eyes.

He thrown himself, pushing Sirius away, as the green light passed by them. An inch, he could have been dead. What an unslytherin thing to do, Salazar. 

“Did you just save my life? You are Cissy’s boy aren’t you?”

“We need help. Now. Cover for me.”

And then he was running towards the veil. It was a stupid idea, for sure. He had read it in a book at the Manor, really bloody stupid and dangerous blood magic. Whatever, it was break rules or die, the end justified the means. He casted a diffindo in his hand and spilled the blood all in front of the arc. He could hear his father utterly furious, he most likely knew what he was doing, not that it would stop him though. Everything went cold, time just stopped. It was then, when he heard the voice of death.

“Who calls me?”

Her voice was enchanting, like a muse of darkness. He fought the impulse to walk through the veil to meet her in the peaceful afterlife.

“Draco Lucius Malfoy, I have a very urgent request, your Highness”

“You are young”

“I am”

“What is the request, boy?”

“I need a life that has been taken by someone other than you. To fix what has been corrupted.”

“I see your desire at heart and I understand what you are asking for but I must warn you, boy: it will cost you.”

He almost backed out then. She was going to ask for something awful, because to alter the balance of nature, compromises must be made. He knew that.

“Whatever it takes.”

“You shall have two years to get the heart you crave for, otherwise you will come to join me in my realm. The love that flourishes in your heart will take your life.” How utterly predictable, Potter was going to be the one who kills him in the end. 

“I accept.”

A blinding light came from the veil while the curtains just opened themselves. Time started to run again, the lights of the spells continued, the screams of his father became more severe, and James Fleamont Potter walked through the arc of death into the realm of the living.

“Lucius?”

“His son actually. If you have a wand you can point it to my lovely family so we can not die today though.”

Sirius laughed and started fighting more forcefully than before. With hope, He noticed. Potter just stood there, frozen in place, while everyone else fought like there was no tomorrow. 

They must’ve heard the minister arrive because the death eaters apparated away in the middle of the fight. This was the moment when Draco remembered that he just did a blood deal with death herself and that was very much illegal, like Azkaban for life don’t matter the age of the ofender illegal. 

“I need to run now.”

He started going to the door, trying to remember in which floor where they so he could get away from that place quickly as possible when He felt someone grabbing his arm.

“Wait, kid. Where are you going?”

“Mr. Potter, I’m really glad that what I did worked and you are alive but if you don’t let me get away from here this instant I will stupefy you. I’m going to end up in Azkaban if I don’t..”

“I don’t know what you are talking about, nobody saw anything besides Jamie walking through that thing.” His cousin spoke, determined, then he turn around to the rest of them, all shocked faces. “Right?”

It was Professor Lupin who nodded and spoke first. “Yes, of course. Nobody saw.” The adults all agreed with them. Potter and the rest of his lot just nodded, probably didn’t understand what the hell he did.

“Is this permanent?”

It was the tone in his voice that made Draco flinched, then a wave of guilt washed over him. All the times he spent making fun of Potter for not having parents came to his mind right there. This boy was looking at him, asking if he just did a cruel thing like bring his father back from the dead just for it to be taken away in a short time.

“It’s permanent ,Potter. I’m not that awful.” He paused for a moment, thinking about if he should tell them or not, but his narrow piercing green eyes where looking at him, trying to find proof. “I made a deal with her, it’s permanent” 

“Her?” How the weasel never knew anything, even though he was a pureblood, always surprised him.

“Death.” He answered.


	2. Grimmauld Place.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aftermath of the Deparment of Mysteries.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really hope you like this one! Please leave comments if you do! 
> 
> Ps.I’ve checked everything but I’m sorry if there is any vocabulary or grammatical errors

He was the first to get out of there with Sirius and Mr. Potter, they apparated to a house in London. He was still dizzie from the apparition when he saw the little piece of paper that his cousin was showing him.

“The Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix can be found at Number 12 Grimmauld Place, London.”

Suddenly a new house appeared in front of them. It was marvelous, Draco had never seen a Fidelius Charm in his life. He smiled a little, ancient magic was so breathtaking.

Sirius opened the door. Inside, the place was disgusting, he could see that the house was once really pretty; but all the expensive furniture were cover up in dust, there were spider webs in the corners of the hallway, it was very dark and it all smelled as if a bloody window hadn’t been opened in ages. 

“This place is awful, one would think that you would have a very nice, vanilla smelling, headquarters but no you have this instead.” 

It was a joke, really. Apparently he just sucked at not hurting people’s feelings because his cousin had a painful look in his eyes and Mr. Potter was looking at him like he just said a really disrespectful thing. 

“I didn’t mean-“

“Don’t worry, little cousin. I know it’s not much but it’s the safest place we had. The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black, there’s probably no one that hates it in here as much as I do.”

“I don’t know, Padfoot. I would probably burn it to the ground if I could” Mr. Potter said with a dashing smile. It was really like seeing Potter with brown eyes, the resemblance was uncanny. His appearance was of a twenty-one year old, he came back exactly as he had left, so young but you could see he felt older than that... He had this fatherly thing in his eyes, very fierce and protective look. 

Draco saw how Sirius was being pulled into a bone crushing hug. His cousin hugged the other man even tighter while tears started to appeared in his grey eyes. He hided his head in Mr. Potter’s neck, maybe to be closer to him or maybe to stop the tears from coming out completely. 

“I missed you every fucking day, James” 

His voice was so raw and painful to hear. Draco could not even begin to imagine what would it be to lose someone so close to you. Because maybe for Potter this was an opportunity to finally have a family, but for Sirius it must had been as if his wildest dream came to life, after so much pain, so much wait. Because Sirius actually knew what he was missing, without James Potter in his life, Draco could hear it so clearly in those words.

“I know, I’m sorry.”

They heard the rest of the Order arrive. Sirius put distance between them very quickly and tried to clean his tears before anyone could see.

It was a lot of people in a hallway so they moved everyone to the kitchen. Apparently only the golden trio were allowed to come into the headquarters, because the other students where nowhere to be found. They all sat at the table; Moody, Professor Lupin, the Weasley’s parents, his cousin, Mr Potter and Nymphadora Tonks. He knew who she was because mother exchanged letters with Aunt Andromeda once or twice a year, and if mother was in a good mood she would let Draco read them with her. This was all behind father’s back of course (Merlin forbid he would let his wife decide if she wanted or not to keep a relationship with her own sister), it was because of this that Draco had learned from a young age that there were things that you weren’t supposed to tell Father, not ever. At the sound of another apparition he frowned. Who else was coming? 

“ Where is he? My godson, where is he??”

Oh no. Not good. Aunt Bella always said that Severus wasn’t a loyal follower, he thought she was joking. He stood from his chair quickly and looked frantically for a place to hide. 'Not good'. He thought as he hided under the table, in the end that was opposite to the kitchen door and (this is just a coincidence, he did not do this on purpose) next to Potter’s chair. The prat who live looked down to where he was hiding as if Draco had utterly lost it.

“Ignore me as always, Potter. Do as you are told just this once.”

He heard him muttered something about how fucking weird this day was and Draco couldn’t agree more. He watched Severus move around the table, even when Draco only could see his legs he noticed he was very pissed off. 

“Snivellus, if you are here to make a scene you can just leave.”

“How calm you are, Black. Considering that the thing that’s sitting beside you could be a dark being.”

“Shut it, you greasy git.”

“Sirius, we are all adults here.” That was professor Lupin, of course. He always was kind at Hogwarts, he had understood when Draco didn’t want to face the boggart in third year, just smiled and said that he would give him a paperwork to keep his marks up. 

He heard all in the table gasp, the feet of Severus were on duel position and that could just not be. He pushed Potter’s leg with his hand. He always was afraid that even being hateful or defensive that the boy would see through him, notice how his heart beated at any kind of proximity. Draco got up and looked at Severus.

“I’m here.” Severus turned to look at him then.

“You stupid, careless boy. What did you do? Blood magic? You clearly are more brainless than I thought.”

“Nobody knows what you are talking about, Snape. Leave the poor kid alone.” Mr. Potter spoke with such calm and commanding tone, eyes focused only on Severus as he said it. So that was where Potter got his morals from. 

“I beg you, Potter, do not insult my intelligence. I know for a fact what is my godson capable of. There is no need to hide it” He kept his eyes on Draco then, something shifted in them. He felt guilty instantly, when he accepted, he thought about how two years where enough to get everything settled but now, looking at Severus, he couldn’t imagine saying goodbye. Because he knew he was the only family he had left. “What did you bargain? Please tell me.”

“You know. All you want is for me to confirm it, which I am, confirming it.”

Pain took over his expression, he shook his head and took a deep breath. It was done, no going back, and Severus knew that of course.

“We will find a way. I promess.” 

No, they wouldn’t. Potter was unbelievable straight so that meant a sure death. He was fine with it. Poor Severus, though, he didn’t know how terminal this was.

“Why was it him?” Granger asked quietly, and he understood that the question was actually ‘why wasn’t Lily Potter’. She thought it was because of the blood status clearly. How would Draco Malfoy bring a mudblood back to life to be with her son, if there was a pureblood option on the table? It was things like this that made him want to be a bad person on bloody purpose. He glared at her. Apparently for a know it all she didn’t have all the answers. Then he said in almost an annoyed tone:

“It’s mandatory to have a blood connection on the ritual, to call for the soul you want. Potters and Malfoys wedded a lot of generations ago. And it’s only one soul per ritual.”

Potter frowned then, like he was thinking of something, plotting. Draco lost his cool at that.

“Don’t even fucking think about it. It’s a soul for a soul. I didn’t just bring your father from the other side to have you sell your soul to save your mother. You can’t have all in life, Potter. Be bloody grateful for what I did and enjoy having both, your father and your godfather in your life once they can clear Sirius's name.”

Those piercing green eyes were looking at him, their fights were always so consuming, once they were started they couldn’t stop. Whoever said the most hurtful thing won and he could see in Potter’s eyes that he was determined to win this one. So Draco just stood there, waiting for it.

“Are you actually trying to make me believe that you risked your own pathetic life to bring my father here?” He snorted, mean and so bloody arrogant, Draco could just had punched him in the face.

“Yes.”

“Sure, Malfoy.”

Mr. Potter just stared at his son, then at Sirius as if he was asking what the hell was wrong with him. Why was he like this? But it was expected. Potter spent eleven years of his life not having friends or family, he was fiercely protective of his own, because he didn’t have any people for so long, and Draco... well, Draco was the big bully that hurt them. 

“How are you alive then?”

“Because, Potter, I was given two years to get something impossible to get or else bye bye living realm” He said it with a mocking tone, trying to light the mood. Severus flinched at that and the room went very quiet before exploding with exclamations and questions all at once.

“Are you kidding, kid?”

“What do you have to get?”

“We can help you! You have to tell us!”

“This is exactly why it’s a forbbiden practice. It’s barbarian!”

“Maybe we can fool her? There must be a way..”

“WOULD YOU ALL JUST SHUT UP”

Probably it wasn’t the best way to react to a bunch of worried Gryffindors but Draco prefered to die than be pitied by anyone. He chose this, he was going to fucking own it.

“Thank you for your concern but this is my problem now. I did what I did and there is no solution other than get this stupid thing I have to get.”

“ What did Death asked for?” Of course Weasley was the sentimental of the three of them. As if he cared, he should be bloody happy if ‘the ferret’ ceased to exist. 

“I’m sorry. Did something of what I just said made you think that I had any intentions of sharing my disgraces with you, Weasley?”

Potter pulled a face of disgust at that. Good, the balance of nature had been restored at last. Too bad it was going to kill Draco. He thought that he should start a list of ‘must do’ before he dies. The good thing about knowing that you are going to die it’s that nothing matters as much, no repercutions, no guilt.

“Black, could Draco stay here? He clearly can’t go back to the Manor and he can’t stay at my house because it would blow my cover.”

“Excuse you? I’m not staying in the same roof as the prat who lived, Severus. Stop saying nonsense.”

“Well, you should have thought about that before you did this. I don’t have a choice and neither do you.”

Potter looked alarmed. He searched for his godfathers eyes trying to say that ‘No, he is not staying here, no bloody way’ And Draco couldn’t agree more. But apparently they were the only ones with logic in the headquarters because Sirius called the house elf and instructed him to fix his cousin a bedroom, as well as one for Harry and James too. Before he could complain about the situation Mr. Potter looked at him with warm eyes and said:

“It’s the least that we can do. You can’t imagine how grateful I am for what you did. I understand if you don’t want help with whatever you have to look for... But if you change your mind I’ll be glad to help.” And what was Draco supposed to say to that, he only nodded and muttered a ‘thank you’.

Draco found himself later that night, in the room that used to belong to Regulus Arcturus Black, looking at the enchanted ceiling full of stars. Wondering if, when the time comes, the day that he joins Death at the other side, if he could ask to be a star instead of a wandering soul. It felt more soothing to be a shinning star than wait in the afterlife until his love ones join him, like Mr. Potter had done. He was more selfish than that, clearly. Maybe he could be a shooting star and fly across the night sky... it would be as if everyday was a quidditch game at night, he would chase the other stars as if they were snitches... He slowly closed his eyes and let himself fall sleep.


	3. Hanahaki

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Living at Grimmauld Place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I hope you like this one! Every kudos and comment is appreciated 💕 
> 
> Enjoy!!
> 
> Ps. I checked but I’m sorry if there’s any grammar or vocabulary errors.

You know what the problem with him living at Grimmauld Place was? It was that he felt too comfortable. Living with Sirius and Mr. Potter was so easy. They tried to be cool all the time so they never told him to eat more or made him talk about stuff on the table because it was the ‘polite thing to do’. It had something to do with the fact that Sirius felt too mentally immature to make house rules and Mr. Potter seeing himself much younger than he actually felt, so one time they confessed him that he could pretty much do what he wanted if he promised that he wouldn’t do blood rituals in his bedroom. Draco secretly thought that it was so easy to live with them because no other Gryffindors were around,so he didn’t found himself in a situation where he was supposed to act as a prat just to keep the balance of nature as it should be. 

Because of the events that took place in the department of the mysteries, the Order had decided that it was safer if he didn’t go back to school for the rest of the year and he agreed of course. The rest of them had to attend as always with the promise that Umbridge was no longer the High Inquisitor at Hogwarts and that they shall not have detentions given the already very traumatizing events they had to endure.

Not for all the galleons in the world he would willingly sleep in the Slytherin dungeons until all of this blows over. If someone actually took any opinions that Draco may have into account, they would know that he didn’t want to go back to Hogwarts at all. He didn’t want to spend the last two years of his life studying for his useless N.E.W.T.S., Severus almost had a heart attack when he told him.

“I will not hear you talking as if you’ll die.”

“But I’m going to. It’s pointless for me to study and it’s pointless for me to be locked down in here. I understand if you don’t want me to be near here because they may catch me, but I can go wherever and enjoy this. It’s an opportunity.”

His godfather stared at him with a annoyed expression. Then he continued to drink his tea while reading the book on ancient blood magic that they found at Grimmauld’s library. There were no answers in that one, Draco already read it, but Severus had this insufferable little habit of ignoring everything he said.

“You are going back to school because you are a minor and under my guardianship. And I absolutely refuse to talk about how you will face a certain death if you do not tell me what exactly is the bargain about.”

“ Yeah? Well don’t hold your breath.” He ended the conversation right there and stormed off to his room, dramatic door slammed and all. 

After that awful little chat with his godfather, Draco spent four days in Regulus Room. He read, watched the stars in the ceiling, sometimes he would draw too, Kreacher brought him food there... It was like his little cave and he kind of hated it and loved it at the same time. By the fifth day he was woken up by knocks on his door. He stepped out of the bed, still dizzy from sleep, as he was trying to rub his eyes, he opened the bedroom door. Sirius and Mr. Potter were in front of him with a hesitant look in their faces. What time was it, Salazar. He was so tired...

“Good morning” Sirius greeted him.

“Is it?” He responded. Mr Potter let out a soft chuckle then.

“Harry told me you were on the quidditch team.” Draco looked at his cousin confused. He wasn’t getting the point, really. “You can fly on the gardens... everything has wards, you wouldn’t be seen.” 

“I don’t have a broom, clearly. I asked Severus to bring mine from school but he refused, said that it would raise suspicion.” 

Their expressions deflated then. Apparently this was the only plan that they had thought of to cheer him up and Draco felt kind of guilty for no having even faked a little enthusiasm. Fuck it, he was angry with his godfather not with them. This poor people gave him a roof, no questions asked and that was more than he could say about ‘I don’t care what you think’ Severus or ‘hurt them and we are going to have a problem,Malfoy’ Potter. Really, how come that all the persons he loved were the ones that thought shit of him? Maybe it was because of his awful relationship with his father, he was too familiar with insults as a way of communication.

He grabbed a shirt that was near his bed. It was Regulus’s, like everything he used those days, because they couldn’t send his stuff to the headquarters yet. He left the pants he had on, it was kind of depressing but last night he didn’t even have the energy to put on his pijamas so he had just took off his shirt and went to sleep. He put his shoes on and joined the two man that stood there in the hallway. Mr. Potter frowned, Draco started walking downstairs to the kitchen because he wanted to avoid any comments but he heard them anyway.

“That’s it? All we had to do was knock? I told that to Padfoot ages ago”

“ Well who told you to listen to me? I just said that in my opinion: space was best.”

He smiled to himself a little bit, sometimes Draco could hear them arguing about the most ridiculous things around the house, all focused on their own opinions, and then Mr. Potter would start laughing, then Sirius would laugh too and they forgot what the hell were they talking about before they started laughing. 

When they got downstairs, Kreacher had already prepared breakfast. He pulled a chair and sat in silence, there was a copy of the daily prophet on the table so he grabbed it and started to read it as he drank his tea. Sirius was looking at him, he could feel it. It was a rather uncomfortable silence, until his cousin spoke.

“So... Snape stopped by yesterday. He was concerned, about you. Which I get, though, we were concerned too. He told us about this fight that you had, a few days ago, and I understand if you don’t want to talk to him, because...well it’s Snivellus and he’s a git, I would know, the point is-“

“ I know for a fact that you tried to kill him in your fifth year. If he is a git, what are you?” He heard Mr. Potter choke with his coffee. When he raised his eyes from the newspaper his cousin was staring at him, very pale. “I don’t care for what you did when you were a kid, neither should you care for your stupid rivalry at school. I think I could live without you talking bad about him to me. If you don’t stop insulting him, I will insult Potter in front of you, which I don’t believe you would like. Trust me, I have more imagination than you two for cruel nicknames.” 

And then Mr. Potter started laughing, which caused Sirius to laugh and the awkward moment disappeared.

“Sure thing, kid. I have training in not insulting Snape because of Lily, I can tutor this one until he stops with the insults.” Draco just nodded at that. Maybe if he was lucky they would have forgot about the real topic of the conversation. But he was never lucky.  
“What Sirius was actually trying to say it’s that you have to talk to someone. Whether it’s your godfather or a friend or even us, you need to tell someone what the deal is so you are not alone in this.”

He wanted to die right there and then, actually. That’s what he wanted. When Death offered the deal he didn’t realize that he would have to go through all of this. The questions, the meddling, to have people worried about him with hope that he would not die. The most curious thing is that Draco always believed he would die young, he didn’t know when exactly but he could feel it in the deep of his soul, carved into his bones. When Death asked for his own life he was just glad she didn’t asked him to kill himself right there, because Draco wasn’t scared of dying, he was just a coward that couldn’t take his own life. This was easier, it would just happen to him. He hesitated to tell them. On the bright side he would be relieved to talk to someone who didn’t actually cared for him all that much, not like Severus did; on the other side, once they hear what he had to get they would meddle, trying to help him or whatever, giving him hope and he didn’t need that.

“ If I tell you-“ He stopped talking when he heard Sirius do a little happy noise. This was a thirty-five year old man doing a happy noises because his fifteen year old cousin was trusting him with a secret. If he didn’t consider Sirius as family before, from then on he absolutely did. He contained himself so he would not smile before he continued. “If I tell you, you CAN’T talk to anyone about this: not Severus, not the Weasleys, and I can not express it more clearly than this: NOT POTTER.” 

Sirius couldn’t contain his chuckles at that, but promptly nodded as if he had sensed that the blond boy was definitely not joking. Then Draco turned to look at Mr. Potter who promised not to tell a soul, under no circumstances, because he owed him his second chance in everything.

“Fine. The reason I don’t want to tell anyone it’s because I know they are going to try to give me hope. I know I don’t stand a chance in this, that’s why I would like to travel and live this two years as intense as I can, because there is no chance, I’m sure of it.”  
They gave him a painful look and nodded, they clearly didn’t want to interrupt him and say something that would change Draco’s mind about telling them. So he just kept talking. 

“I’m in love with this boy since forever, when it started I didn’t even understand what love was” Draco smiled at the memory of the butterflies that he got at Potter’s first quidditch game, he felt so weird that went to Madam Pomfrey and said he was feeling sick. The blond boy shook his head coming back to reality. “He’s straight. It’s such a cruel joke, really. She didn’t gave me a chance to live, she gave me a suicidal mission:  
‘You shall have two years to get the heart you crave for, otherwise you will come to join me in my realm. The love that flourishes in your heart will take your life.’  
See? It’s useless for me to do anything else than enjoy what’s left, that was her mercy in all of this.”

The silence was too painful after that, he was dying for someone to crack a joke to lighten the mood... He knew it was all very depressing but still. He had pulled his knees to his chest to use as a shield, to protect himself a little from how vulnerable he felt. Then he heard Sirius muttered a weird word he couldn’t fully understand. His cousin had a very sad look in his eyes. Mr Potter asked him what was wrong, if he could help and then Sirius spoke louder.

“It’s Hanahaki Disease. Runs in the family actually.” He said it with such pity, and even though Draco didn’t know what the hell he was talking about he wanted to punch him in the face for that tone only. 

“I don’t know what that is.” And Draco didn’t like to admit when he didn’t know something. He studied everything, knew all the pureblood customs by heart, he read ancient magic books for FUN, Salazar. He should always just know things.

“It’s a very painful way to die, that’s what it is. Death didn’t even hide it, she outright said it. ‘The love that flourishes in your heart will take your life’... the love acts like a seed, eventually you will have flowers inside of you and start coughing petals, when the roots take over your lungs, they will strangle your heart to death.” 

Well, Draco did not expected that, to be honest. He just blinked, frozen in place. Of course he wouldn’t just live in peace for two years and then leave. How was he so fucking naive??

“Do you know anything more? You said it was a family thing.”

Sirius nodded.

“ Yeah, A few generations back I had an Aunt that died from that. My hag of a mother used to tell me that’s what happens when you fall in love, you just die. I was so terrified to get it one day that I read all the books in the library where it was mentioned.”

Draco couldn’t help but to feel such admiration...Sirius was psychologically abused for years by this awful woman and he could still find it in himself to speak about it as it was just that: a part of his life that ended. The blond boy wished he could do the same when he talked about his father. Actually, Draco just wished he could talk about his father at all, period. His thoughts were interrupted by Mr. Potter’s voice.

“Padfoot, do you know a way to stop it? Or a treatment?”

“There is none, the cure is only one and it’s exactly what Draco has been told... Unrequited love heals when the beloved returns the feelings of the one with the disease.” He paused a little before he went on. “The only thing I can say it’s the one thing you don’t want to hear.”

“No, I don’t.”

“Just think about it, She must be fair. You could only bring James back because his death wasn’t suppose to happen... what if she really gave you fair game too?” Sirius was getting anxious, he could noticed it because of the way that the words started to come out of his mouth, fast, urgent. “You are so young. I don’t know who is it that you are in love with, if he is older or not , but if he’s at Hogwarts? Darling, he could be into guys and just doesn’t know it yet. Hell, he could be keeping it hidden because he’s in the closet. You know how many straight-passing bisexual guys I knew at school? Tons, I swear.”

This is what he didn’t want. He cried enough about Potter only liking girls to have someone telling him that maybe he was just confused or outright lying to everyone. Potter couldn’t lie for shit, it was one of the things he loved about him. He was so proud of him for not lying even after Umbridge’s blood quill. When Draco saw that, he knew he would never love anyone else, at least not like this, so all consuming. Funny enough he would die not loving anyone else in any way, apparently.

“I know you don’t want to hear it, kid, but it sounds as if don’t have other choice but to go for it.”

He gave Mr. Potter the most severe look he could manage before answering.

“I don’t have to do shit, actually. And even if he was, by some miracle, into guys, that does-“ His voice was cracking in the middle of the sentence, he would not cry again after this git! He would not cry again after Harry bloody Potter, and least of all in front of Potter’s father and his godfather. He tried to control his voice, to contained the tears but as he continued talking he realized he was crying and sobbing instead. “That does not mean that he could feel the same. So, if you want to be helpful I beg you to not talk to me about this again.”

He left them sitting at the table with guilty looks on their faces. Draco just ran upstairs and lock himself in Regulus Room again. He hugged himself while he tried to stop the tears but he couldn’t stop. He was just so pathetic. Maybe Sirius mother had been right all along and this was what happen when you fall in love: you die. Because even if Draco wouldn’t have gotten the stupid flower disease, this feeling of longing would had killed him. Maybe someday his heart would have just stop working because of all the times it was broken about the same stupid thing. Wouldn’t that had been better than heart strangulation, Merlin.


	4. Tickles.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry arrives to Grimmauld Place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I really hope you like this one 💕 Leave kudos if you do, and please comment and tell me what you think about it! Enjoy!!
> 
> Ps. As always I checked everything but I’m sorry if you find grammar or vocabulary errors (English is not my first lenguage)

Draco spent an entire week feeling sorry for himself before he decided that he had enough. The fact that Mr. Potter reminded him that the school year was about to come to an end (which meant that Potter would be moving in) was just a happy coincidence. 

Apparently they were facing some problems with the guardianship. Some days ago, Moody had told Sirius that things didn’t just go away, that at the least they had to do an incredibly large amount of paperwork to declare Mr. Potter as a living person and only then they could arrange a trial to clear Sirius’s name once and for all. 

Everything was more complicated than it was supposed to be because Fudge didn’t believe their story about what happened at the ministry, not that he would bother them much though. The minister had already fucked up by denying the Dark Lord return for an entire year, and since the events of the department of mysteries, the attacks had become more and more severe until they were impossible to ignore. Since ‘War Hero James Fleamont Potter comes back’ was good publicity for Fudge, Draco wasn’t really worried about it as his cousin was. It was rather annoying, really. When Mr. Potter would get out of Grimmauld Place to attend to a hearing at the ministry or go to St. Mungos for his check ups, Sirius would spend the entire bloody day nervous and looking all pained around the house. It drove Draco insane. 

“Would you just calm down? I can’t even read like this. Your magic is all over the place.” Sirius frowned and opened his mouth to respond but he beat him to it. “ I’m just worried! What if they don’t let him come back or a test just goes wrong?? Who would laugh at my awful jokes then??” He said with a high pitch voice that didn’t sound like his cousin at all but it was funnier that way. He would know, he had an immaculate sense of humor.

“You are an awful cousin. I’m starting to understand Harry.”

Draco gasped as dramatically as he could then. He put a hand on his heart and made an exaggerated disbelief gesture. “You take that back.” He hissed. Draco loved this, loved living with the two of them, he was never bored with them and they never took anything he said personally because they understood him, there was this unspoken agreement that jokes and banter were the answer to every situation. Draco just loved that. 

“Never.” Sirius said while laughing. He reminded him of mother sometimes, his gestures, the way his smiled would reach his eyes only when he thought something was really funny. 

They heard the fireplace come to life. Green flames appeared and then Potter and his father were coming through. Sirius didn’t look surprised at all about the fact that Potter had arrived a day before the end of term. Great, it was just him then. 

Mr. Potter greeted them and and asked his son to help with Draco’s luggage. Saint Potter on the other hand was too busy frowning, looking between Sirius and him, to actually respond to his father or to have basic human decency and say hello. Draco passed next to him as he went to where the man was. 

“Don’t bother, Mr. Potter, I’ll just take them.” 

Draco casted a levitation charm on the luggage and went upstairs. He was almost at his door when he heard Sirius’s voice.

“That was rather rude.” 

Draco could almost see scarhead roll his eyes at that. They still didn’t understand that they should just let Potter and him treat each other as it pleased them. 

“I just can’t understand why the Order can’t find another place for him.” 

“They can, of course.” He wondered if Mr. Potter was always this calm while arguing, it was the same composed tone that he used when Severus had told Draco off because of the blood ritual. 

“Then what is he doing here?” Potter sounded exasperated, but apparently they chose to ignore the boy’s question because Draco heard no response at all. 

He spent the rest of the day going over his stuff to check if everything was in order. At least he didn’t have to study anymore. Given that his life would ceased to exist, he could spend the summer (for the first time in forever) not going over his school textbooks to ensure beating Granger at school next year. Don’t get him wrong, he loved knowledge, he just didn’t have the urge to be top of year anymore. The fact that his father used to punish him for coming second to a mudblood witch was totally an unrelated thing; his goals in life changed because he now had a terminal desease, not because his living situation changed, of course.

Kreacher came to announce that dinner was served as usual, he did noticed him more pissed off. He couldn’t blame him, really. Aunt Walburga’s portait hadn’t stopped screaming since she realized that Potter arrived. They could normally shut the curtains when she yelled ‘ Blood traitors scum’ at them if she heard them around the house, but she had thrown an absolut fit when she noticed the dark haired boy was around too. “Disgusting Half-blood! In my home already infested with shameful blood traitors, such a disgrace” , he heard as Kreacher and him were passing near the portait, the poor elf ran to it in such hurry he nearly tripped. Draco continued his way to the kitchen as he kept hearing the old elf trying to calm her down. It would seem that Kreacher was the only living creature that had loved Walburga Black when she was alive. 

Everyone was already waiting for him at the table when he arrived. Potter still had an annoyed expression on his face. Draco raised an eyebrow at him and pulled a chair to sit down and eat. There was an uncharacteristically silence, the blond boy hoped for someone to crack a joke but it never came. He was dying to ask why Potter couldn’t wait one more day to come back but they had clearly hide that information from Draco on purpose so he wasn’t going to ask. He supposed it could be to avoid Mr. Potter going to King’s Cross to get his son... Whatever, it wasn’t any of his business.

“So... what do you two plan to do with your summer?” Mr. Potter asked. Sirius and Draco stared at him before looking at each other and bursted laughing. They tried to controlled themselves but it was useless so he opened his mouth.

“My plan was to spend the rest of the bloody summer trapped here, Mr Potter, thanks for asking.” He smiled, relieved that they could still actually talk even if Potter was here. 

“Hey, I was planning to do the same thing! What a coincidence!” Said Sirius with a mocking tone in his voice.

“Ha ha, you are hilarious. At least I’m trying to make conversation. What about you, Harry?”

The dark haired boy, who was observing the exchange between them with a curious look in his face, turned his attention to his father then.  
Potter shrugged and took another bite of his food, he responded while his mouth was still full.

“I don’t know, fly maybe? I never got to do that on summers unless I was at The Burrow. Or maybe I’ll just try not to get weird visions from Voldemort, who knows.”

Mr. Potter and Sirius froze at that and Draco fought to hide a smile. That was one of the things that he liked the most about the prat who lived, he always responded with sass. The first time he heard it was directed to him in fact, ‘I think I can tell who the wrong sort are for myself, thanks’. It always amused him how cheeky Potter was with everyone, with his Gryffindors or even with the professors. Because Draco saw that the other two men didn’t know how to respond to that he intervened.

“Maybe you could spend your summer learning how to actually do an occlumency shield, instead of cracking jokes about how the Dark Lord can get into your mind with such ease, Potty.”

“Shut up, Malfoy.”

“Witty comeback right there, Potter. I’ll take that as win for me.” He said as he was pointing his finger at the boy with the best arrogant smirk he had. This was probably the only way that Draco could flirt with Potter, even if he was so utterly oblivious to his intentions. The blond boy supposed it was because Gryffindors didn’t tend to be mean flirts in general, so if a Slytherin approached them they would always feel as they were making fun of them in a bad way. There even was this ridiculous legend going around down in the dungeons which said there was a curse, that started around the founders era, that caused the Slytherins to have (at least) one crush on a Gryffindor while they were at school and said crush would never get that they were flirting, ever. Draco always thought it was rubbish until he witness it himself.

He heard Mr. Potter chuckle and when he turns to see him and his cousin, he found them looking at Draco with an amused face. He looked down, luckily for him he had a lot of practice in hiding the blush that started to invade his face. He drank a little water and kept on eating. This was exactly why he didn’t want to live in the same place as Potter, Draco was too used to try to get the boy’s attention by any means necessary. To think that now he was supposed to try to ignore him a little for it not to be so bloody obvious...Maybe the best course of action was to go back to his room and only get out to get food, that way his encounters with Potter would be minimum. At least his comment seemed to had lighten the mood because then Sirius was talking about how he could work with his godson, to perfect his shield and Mr. Potter also said that it was a great idea. Once Draco finished eating he excused himself and went to his room.

He was drawing in his sketch book when Potter opened the door and entered the room closing the door behind him. Draco quickly closed the book in his hands.

“One would think that in fifteen years you should have already learn how to knock.” 

Potter rolled his eyes and gave him an exasperated look. The ‘shut up, Malfoy’ was implied. Draco looked at him, waiting for whatever nonsense he would say to him.

“First of all: apparently, I’ve been rude to you. Which I think it’s rubbish, but I came here to-“

“Don’t.” Draco interrupted him. Not in a million years he would let this happen. “Don’t bloody apologize, Potter. You are giving me the creeps.”  
He could see how grateful Potter was to hear that. 

“Brilliant. That’s settled then. Second of all: I don’t fully trust you.” What else was new? As if he cared, stupid git. “But I’ve still haven’t thanked you for what you did at the ministry...” 

Draco widened his eyes. What the fuck was happening? 

“Don’t put that face, Malfoy. I don’t know why you did what you did, if it was a ploy to get into the headquarters or whatever. And maybe it’s really selfish to say this but I don’t care. You gave me something that I thought it was forever lost and you saved Sirius right in front of me.”

The blond boy muttered something, trying to dismissed Potter. This was getting to personal and he didn’t like it. Potter walked to where he was and sat on the end of the bed, looking at him. His piercing green eyes were absolutely focused on Draco, trying to show how serious he was about what he said, then he spoke again.

“What I mean is that I don’t know what that means for a Slytherin, but for us Gryffindors is a proof of kindness, so thank you.” 

And Potter did the one thing that he dreamed of since forever: he offered his hand to Draco. It wasn’t an offer of friendship, he knew that Potter and him could never be friends... but it was a thoughtful gesture. It meant that ,this beautiful boy who Draco absolutely did not deserve, remembered that day on the train, how their rivalry started. It was also something like a peace offer. The blond boy raised his eyes to look at Potter’s, he nodded and grabbed the boy’s hand.

Draco thought that the day could not get any weirder but then while he was shaking Potter’s hand, the boy smiled at him. A wide, very sincere smile that made his heart stop for several seconds. That smile was never for him, he had spend five years of his life looking at the Gryffindor table just to see this boy smile at his friends and now this one big gorgeous smile was exclusively for him. 

He felt something weird then, like tickles inside of him, never felt that one before... Draco didn’t want to let go of Potter’s hand before necessary, but he was feeling really strange, so he let go of him to see if the feeling would go away. It didn’t. 

“Well, that was all, Malfoy... Good night I guess?”

He nodded. 

“Yeah, good night, Potter.” 

When the door closed behind him, Draco touched his ribs. The tickles were still there, but smaller. He spent enough years reacting to Potter and feeling stuff to know that this wasn’t normal.


	5. Chess and Quidditch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, everyone! I had so much fun writing this one!! I really hope you enjoy it as much as I did!! 
> 
> Tell me what you thought in the comments if you can! 🥰
> 
> Ps. I’m sorry if you find any errors (grammar or vocabulary)

The Order of The Phoenix started to do meetings as soon as summer began. For some time, after the department of mysteries they decided to lay low, the attacks were getting worst and Molly Weasley had stated that it made more sense to wait until the kids were done with the school year just for the logistics of it all. Then, summer arrived and a lot of people started to come and go from Grimmauld Place all the time. Because of that, Draco quickly realized that he didn’t like Weasley’s mother. And it wasn’t because of the fact that she was a Weasley, shockingly enough, he had proof of that given that he had started to spend a lot of his time with Weasleys in general. The blond boy had actually classified all of the redheads according to the next categories: ‘could had been friends’ , ‘I don’t mind’ , ‘I don’t want them here’.

The Weasley twins were in the first category, it was mostly because they were funny as hell and Draco always thought that, even when they were at school; now they were starting their own business after dropping school: amazing. In the same category, even though it was weird as hell, was Weasley: they spent their time playing chess while the meeting took place and even if they didn’t talk much, Draco noticed that Weasley was awfully forgiving and kind; he felt it was a shame that he treated him as shit for so many years because he genuinely thought they could have been friends at some point if he had acted differently.

On the ‘I don’t mind’ was Arthur Weasley who he didn’t know much but the man was nice to everyone so.. Next in the category was Bill Weasley who Draco thought about putting him in the first one just because he was so good looking, but sadly enough the blond boy didn’t get to talk to him enough to place him in another category than ‘ I don’t mind’.  
Ginevra was a curious case because he could place her in all three categories. He liked how witty she was and the whole ‘one of the boys’ vibe she had going on, she also reminded him of Pansy with how much of a bitch she was sometimes and Draco loved that too (and this were all things first category worthy). On the other hand, given the fact that she ignored his existence he would place her in the second one. However, if he only took into account the fact that Potter was spending all his bloody time playing quidditch with her, she would most likely be in the last category.

Molly Weasley was definitely in ‘I don’t want them here’ because of only one reason: she was very mean to Sirius. All the time. And what pissed off Draco the most was that she said mean shit as if they were just passing comments and not hurtful at all. Like ‘ That’s because you don’t know what is like to raise a child, dear’ or ‘Harry needs actual boundaries’ or even ‘Harry if you feel uncomfortable here or just want to stay at the burrow you are obviously welcome’. He didn’t like it at all, he didn’t like the passive-aggressive tone she used, he didn’t like how she would just get inside the bloody kitchen to cook without asking for anyone’s permission and he absolutely didn’t like the way that Sirius would talk less at dinner if she was there. So no, he didn’t like Molly Weasley, sue him. And he was almost one-hundred percent sure that Mr. Potter didn’t like her either because every time she said something shitty he would press his lips to a fine line and raise his eyebrows as if he was saying ‘well, look at the utter bullshit that woman just said’. Of course, none of them said a word on the matter, they just made gestures of displeasure in silence.

Weeks were passing by rather quickly between him doing research about the stupid flower disease, flying in the gardens (because now he did have his broom) and the Order meetings. Draco mostly felt as good as ever, all the books he consulted said that this was one of the most painful diseases known to mankind but it didn’t feel like it. Although the thing he felt on the ribs did worried him.

The tickling feeling came and go constantly and every time it happened it was about the prat who lived. Sometimes it would be smooth tickles, mostly if Potter said something in a kind tone to Draco or even when they argued and the dark haired boy would take a sassy attitude... it also had happened when Potter had shook his hand so he guessed that he also would felt it if the boy shown any kind of physical affection (of course he couldn’t prove this because that was the only time that Potter had touched him). Although it was annoying, that kind of tickles, didn’t worry him so much; the ones that worried him were the ‘strong tickles’ as he called them.

The strong tickles were awful and he knew exactly when they happened. It wasn’t with different stuff like the soft ones, no, they would only occurr when he saw Potter with the She-Weasel. It was ridiculous because he heard that she was dating Thomas but he also remembered the awful poem that she did in second year and how she used to look at Potter in the hallways just like he did... Whenever he saw them laughing or flying outside, Draco would feel as if the inside of his ribs had been casted with a tickling charm. It didn’t even make him laugh, he just wanted to scratch himself until his skin hurt instead of the awful feeling he had. That eventful day was an ‘strong tickles’ day.

Weasley has the idea to take the chessboard outside because the summer heat was unbearable, and Draco agreed. They were sitting in the garden table, just a few moves inside the game when Potter and Ginevra decided to play a seekers game. He tried to focus on the bloody board but the tickles had started and they were laughing so fucking loudly.

“Doesn’t it bother you that your git of a best friend is  flirting with your little sister right in front of you?” He hissed at the redhead. It was a shitty comment to do, as far as Draco could tell Weasley hadn’t catch on in the ridiculous mating ritual that those two were doing. And maybe if they would just snog it would be more bearable than seeing Potter smile around Grimmauld for two days straight because the She-Weasel made a joke. He saw Potter flying around her just because, with a very attractive smile on his face. The tickles got even worse.

“Ginny would hit me if I said something about them being  too close.” He moved his knight “But I don’t like it, no.”

Draco took his bishop and made a small move. He wasn’t actually paying attention.

“Then why don’t you tell him? You are his friend, he should just know.” Weasley smiled at the blond boy and shook his head.

“It’s okay, your little ferret brain should only be concerned in finding your whatever thing.”

Yeah, but that was the problem wasn’t it? He didn’t need to look for it. His thing, his cure was right there and it didn’t matter. Potter never looked at him, ever. He actually checked. His conversation with Sirius and Mr. Potter did a number on him so he started to play this game called ‘Is Harry Potter just straight-passing?’ And the answer was no: Draco had paraded himself shirtless a few times and nothing, he also winked at him and Potter didn’t even blink. It was humiliating.

“I’m going to erase that cute smile from your face, you’ll see.” He never used that tone. The blond boy turned to see Potter. He was pushing back his hair with a gigantic smile on his face, a glint in his eyes behind his glasses. He was really flirting with Ginevra, even if he didn’t know it yet. Draco felt the tickles become more and more severe and when he breathed it tickled even more. Not good. He started drinking a little of his tea.

“No, Harry! You are going to make us fall!” And he saw Potter fall with her in his arms, almost as if they were hugging.

Of course, Draco started coughing right there. He didn’t get anything out but he couldn’t stop coughing. Weasley offered to get him water but he shook his head and excused himself to get to the bathroom.

He just had to stop the coughing. He started looking for pepper up potion in the bathroom cabinet but he didn’t find any, so he drank a little water from the tap wishing the coughs would go away, it almost had worked but then he remembered the scene in the gardens and it all went to shit. The coughing didn’t seem to stop. Still no petals. Good. He heard a knock on the door.

“Kid? Are you in there?”

He cleared his throat but when he spoke his voice came out as raspy. “Yeah.”

Mr. Potter didn’t ask if he could come in. The second he heard him he opened the door, got in and then closed it behind him.

“Ron came in the middle of the meeting to say that you started to cough and still hadn’t comeback. Snape was coming to see you but we convinced him not to.” Mr. Potter sat with him on the floor of the bathroom and when he started to cough again, the man started to rub circles on his back until Draco calmed down.

“Is it Ron?” The blond boy looked at him with an utterly confused look. “Oh come on, you know what I’m asking!  Is it Ron? “

Draco just bursted laughing and he instantly felt better. This man was asking if he was  in love with Weasley.

“I’m sorry, I just can’t believe that somebody just asked me if my secret unrequited love is Weasley” He chuckle then. “No Mr. Potter, really, it’s not him”.

“Shame, you seem to spend a lot of time together. Harry told me you two definitely weren’t like this at Hogwarts... I just thought it could be possible for it to be him.”

Draco smiled at him and shook his head.

“It’s not him, but I’m not telling you what happened, okay? I can’t imagine you or Sirius having the name of the poor boy and not meddling.”

Mr. Potter chuckle and helped Draco to get off the floor, muttered something along the lines of ‘of course we’ll meddle’ and got out of the bathroom with him.

When Draco went back to the gardens he only found Weasley. He didn’t dare to ask where Potter and Ginevra were because he feared that the coughs would come back. It was better if didn’t think at all. They started a new game. He was thinking if he should tell him or not, they weren’t actually friends so maybe it would be weird... Fuck it.

“Thanks for getting help, Weasley.”

Ron seemed to have been taken by surprise. He blinked as if he was clearing his head, then he shrugged and smiled a little.

“Don’t worry about it, Malfoy.”

It wasn’t friendship, it was basic human decency but Draco felt good about it still. Maybe he could try to apologize with him in the future. And even if they could never be friends (which Draco would totally understand), it would still be better somehow.


	6. The List.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, everyone!  
> I hope you enjoy this chapter too! ✨  
> Please tell me in the comments what you think of it! 
> 
> Ps. As always I’ve checked but I’m sorry if you find any grammar or vocabulary errors.

1\. Blaise 10/10   
2\. Theodore 10/10 (straight?)  
3\. Goldstein 7/10 (We don’t talk)  
4\. Boot 6/10 (most likely gay)   
5\. Finnigan (can’t even rate him, probably pining after Thomas)  
6\. Bill Weasley 10/10 (very straight and age gap)

“What are you writing?” Draco did a little jump and covered the list. Weasley always seemed to have an amazing timing to catch him doing embarrassing things, like stare at Potter for example. This was worst though.

Ron tried to grab the piece of parchment but Draco moved it quickly. The redhead raised his eyebrow.

“Why do you care?” He said, the other boy just huffed.

“Because, I’m bored”

“How is that my problem?”

Weasley did a little whining noise in protest and sat beside Draco on the grass. This was what they did most days now, and the blond boy had to admit that he was confused about it. He still hadn’t apologized, every time that he attempted to start that conversation, the redhead just changed the subject. And it wasn’t in a ‘I don’t want to talk about it because it pisses me off’ way... it was more as if he just ignored what the blond boy had said.

“Come on, ferret. What’s the list for?”

Draco glared at him then, of course he already saw.

“It’s a stupid list, weasel.”

“I’m stupidly bored, so” he shrugged and looked at Draco.

He didn’t want to tell him because of Potter, if he told him, the scarhead would probably make fun of it. He also knew that Ron was coming almost every day to Grimmauld Place now, and he would most likely not drop this subject.

He was surprised Potter didn’t just go to The Burrow every day, it would be simpler... But he suspected that Weasley wanted to spend time with Draco too and because he was bloody trapped here, well, there wasn’t a lot of options.

He sighed. Whatever, he was literally dying. Who could actually judge him?  
Draco passed the list to the boy so he could read it.

“Are you rating looks in this? Because I don’t fancy blokes, but I don’t see how Boot is a six” He said with an amused smile. Draco took the parchment as he was glaring at him.

“For your information, I can’t be exactly picky. I don’t know any out guys at school except for Blaise and Goldstein... I was trying to do a ‘would shag’ list considering looks and  personality. It’s just a stupid idea, I wanted to consider my options.”

Weasley was looking at him, as if he was trying to figure him out. Then he pulled a disgusted face.

“Ugh! My brother is in there Malfoy, I could live without knowing you wanted to shag him” Draco laughed at that, poor Ron.

“I’m sorry to tell you this, weasel, but I think that everyone wants to shag Bill. Have you seen him? It’s ridiculous how handsome he is.” The boy put fingers in his ears then and started to say ‘la la la la, I can’t hear you’ over and over again until both of them started laughing. Draco kicked him playfully and turned to see the list again. He really didn’t have much options, did he? He sighed.

“I think it’s a good idea to consider everyone, you don’t know what they do with their lives.”

“Is this your way of telling me you want to be in the list, Weasley?” Draco chuckled, then he did a flirty smirk and wiggled his eyebrows. “Curious, aren’t we?”

Ron laughed very loudly and shook his head.

“Not at all! I’m just saying that the logical thing is that there are more than four guys that dig blokes at school, you just have to find them. Why do you have to make a list though? Doesn’t these things just happen?”

Draco sighed and laid down on the grass. This was nice, the smell of summer. Everything he was living at Grimmauld Place was nice. Sirius and Mr. Potter, get to see the green eyed boy everyday, joking with the Weasley twins, getting to actually know Nymphadora, hearing stories about Aunt Andromeda (from both Tonks and Sirius), watching Sirius and Severus bicker about every bloody thing, making professor Lupin laugh so hard at dinner that juice comes out of his nose and also spending time with Ron. All the nice things in the world seemed to be inside of this old house. He wished his mother would be here. Draco didn’t actually notice he was crying until the other boy said something about it.

“Hey, I’m sorry... I wasn’t saying it for you to feel bad I just-“

He rubbed his eyes to clean the tears and shook his head smiling a little. Ron was so kind sometimes.

“Don’t worry, it wasn’t anything you said.”

Weasley didn’t seem convinced but he nodded. They spent a little while in silence, looking at the clouds move with the summer breeze. Then the other boy spoke again.

“I think you are right about Seamus.” Draco turned to look at him, a little surprised. “I didn’t think about it until now because I always assume boys like girls, you know?” He nodded, of course he knew, everyone always did that. “But it makes sense, him and Dean were always so close... If it’s true I can imagine that seeing Dean with Ginny would get him upset.”

And here was the proof that the pining chain started with Ginevra. Because Draco was in love with Potter who seemed to like Weasley’s sister, but she was with Dean with whom Finnegan was (probably) in love. Now if he would get someone to pine after him, that would be great. His dignity would appreciate it.

“You should put Harry on that list.”

And he started coughing right there. He dismissed it and said he choked with his own saliva. The blond boy asked Weasley what the hell he was talking about.

“Hey, if you don’t want to be with him for, you know, because of whatever weird rivalry you have... I get it. I was just saying that I think he may like that stuff.”

“Sex, Weasley. Say the word. You are sixteen years old and will be seventeen on March.” He huffed and saw the redhead smiling brightly at him.

“You know my birthday!”

Draco blushed and looked away. Well it wasn’t that hard was it? The entire Gryffindor table would sing happy birthday at breakfast.

“Don’t worry. I’m not telling anyone.” Weasley said and kept on smiling. You would think that this was the first time that someone acknowledge his birthday, Merlin. “Back on topic, the answer to that would be yes.”

Draco looked at him with a disbelief face.

“What? Did he tell you or something?” He tried to sound nonchalant. Do not get hope, Draco. Stop it. You checked remember? Stop.

“No. I was just thinking about how bloody often he talked about Cedric in fourth year.” Draco rolled his eyes.

“That doesn’t mean anything!”

“You know, Malfoy, all that I’m getting from this conversation is that Harry should be on that list because you are not saying ‘ugh, no’ to the idea of shagging him.”

Draco glared at Weasley. Trying to fight the blush that was invading his face.

“First: Potter may be unbearable, but he is attractive in a regular kind of way.” What a load of bullshit. Weasley was looking at him like he was crazy. “Second of all: The list is because I don’t have time.” Ron frowned at that.

“What do you mean?” Ron was frowning at him.

“You know. I have two years to live as much as I can. I refuse to die without having been with a guy. My only kiss ever was Pansy at Yule Ball. It’s pathetic.” Ron looked away and stared at the clouds again.

“I haven’t kissed anyone yet. Am I pathetic?” And Draco felt like shit. Clearly, he wasn’t. If Weasley hadn’t kissed anyone yet, it was most likely because he liked Granger. The blond boy knew that since first year, those two were pretty much the definition of ‘bickering like a married old couple’.

“Of course not. You are not dying. Pay attention, weasel.” He laughed at that.

“I still think Harry should be in that list. Boot has a six! He is the most boring person ever, and bland looking.”

They fell into an uncomfortable silence after that. It wouldn’t be long until Sirius called them to have dinner. After a while Weasley spoke again.

“I really hate that you are not even trying.” He kept looking at the sky, avoiding Draco’s eyes. “It’s really shitty of you to actually be nice to me for the first time ever and expect me to just see you die.”

The blond boy didn’t know how to respond to him, so he didn’t respond at all.

————————-

Another couple of weeks passed and soon Granger joined them. Potter’s birthday was at the end of July so the witch was invited to stay at The Burrow on that same week.

Sirius and Mr. Potter were so excited for the boy’s birthday that they invited Weasley and Granger to dinner so they could help them organize the party and they also invited professor Lupin. Draco thought that it was rather bizarre to have a Golden Trio reunion featuring The Marauders.

They decided to celebrate Potter’s birthday during the day because that way they could play a quidditch match. Weasley announced that Molly would cook and that he could come early to help them set everything. Granger agreed to come early and asked the green-eyed boy if there was anything else he wanted, to which he responded:

“I just want everyone to come.”

Everyone was a strong word, he thought, given the fact that only members of The Order could be inside the headquarters. But Draco heard that this was his first real birthday party ever, so maybe even a few people seemed like everyone to Potter. It was also implicit that Severus wasn’t included in the guest list, so it would actually be less people than when the order had a meeting. Or so he thought.

“Oh, I forgot to tell you! Charlie arrives tomorrow so he will come too.”

The golden trio started to talk about how long they hadn’t seen ‘Charlie’, while Draco and the marauders were waiting for an explanation of who this person was. It turned out that he was another brother of Weasley, he lived in Romania where he worked with dragons. The description that Weasley provided was ‘He looks like Bill but not as tall and with more freckles. He graduated the year before we started at Hogwarts.’  
At the mention of Bill in the description he blushed. Stupid Weasley. He knew he shouldn’t had told him.

“I think you would like him, Malfoy, he is funny.” He was looking at him with a smirk in his face and shrugged. “He is gay, you know.”

And now Draco was incredibly blushed and wide eyed. It’s not like he was inside the closet, it wasn’t even a secret, he told the truth to anyone who asked. The problem was that in that room there were three persons that didn’t ask and now they were looking utterly confused. The silence was interrupted by Granger who threw the weasel a napkin and hissed at him.

“How can you have such a lack of tact! It’s not a club, Ronald!”

Poor Weasley didn’t understand what he did wrong. He was looking at Draco for an answer and he was about to say that it didn’t matter when the voice of Mr. Potter interrupted him.

“No, it’s not a club. If it was, Padfoot would probably be the president.”

And the table exploded with laughter. As far as he knew Sirius never told Potter that he was gay. Draco thought that it was rather obvious because of how Sirius acted. It’s not like he was hiding it. But this was good, because it was so honest and funny that it wasn’t even an awkward moment. It gave Draco confidence to respond to Ron.

“So, are you saying that the eight years of age gap don’t matter? Does he like blonds?”

It was a mistake. Weasley didn’t see anything bad with it, clearly, but what happened next was that Remus Lupin started to lecture Draco about the dangers of what he had implied.

“Draco, you may not realize it now but even if you feel mature you are not. And this doesn’t have to do with Ron’s brother in particular but you should not date older men. At least not until you become of age.”

He was about to state the fact that he didn’t have time to wait until next year. Right now, he still looked attractive and the symptoms were small, he wasn’t coughing petals around the place. Imagine him flirting with a boy and then kissing him with petals in his mouth. I would be too embarrassing. He decided to just nod so the conversation could finish as soon as possible.

“I thought you were with Parkinson.”

Ron chocked on his juice from hearing his best friend say such nonsense.

“Believe me, Potter. I’m not with Pansy. I love her, but not in that way. And she certainly doesn’t either.”

The dark-haired boy looked at him confused. He crossed his arms and fixed his glasses as he muttered:

“But she touches your hair all the time...” It seemed to be like he was trying to get his own thoughts in order, Draco knew that he wasn’t expecting an answer but he gave him one anyway.

“That’s because my hair is fantastic.”

The boy acted as if he hadn’t heard anything, but Draco could see Weasley looking at his best friend, smirking. Then he turned to the blond boy and mouthed ‘put him on that list’. He blushed and kept on eating, trying to act normal. Stupid Weasel, he should punch him.

The list, after that, read:

1\. Blaise 10/10   
2\. Theodore 10/10 (straight?)  
3\. Goldstein 7/10 (We don’t talk)  
4\. Boot 6/10 (most likely gay)   
5\. Finnegan (can’t even rate him, probably pining after Thomas)  
6\. Bill Weasley 10/10 (very straight and age gap)  
7\.  Harry James Potter 100/10 (because Weasley said so but I think he’s mistaken)


	7. July 31st.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Omg, this chapter took so much workkk! I really hope it was worth it and you like it 🙌🏻🙌🏻✨ Tell me what you thought about it on the comments 🥰
> 
> Enjoy!!
> 
> Ps: I checked, but I’m sorry if you find errors (grammar or vocabulary)

‘You'll know that you have fallen in love, Dragon prince, when you would do anything to make them happy’ He remembered when mother told him that. At the time, he didn’t understand what it meant. Now Draco knew, it meant that his mother didn’t actually believe in the cause,  but she loved his father too much to get away from all that. Draco felt much like his mother these days.

He sighed as he was finishing Potter’s birthday present. He had a debate with himself, whether he should give him something or not (for days) and he actually decided not to... but then he heard Mr. Potter talking to Sirius.

“Did you know that for his eleventh birthday, Lily’s awful sister didn’t even cook a cake for Harry? He told me that his first present ever was my cloak, that he got it for Christmas at Hogwarts. It’s just awful Padfoot, I could make the best birthday party ever and it wouldn’t erase all shit he lived.”

So now, Draco found himself working on a present for the boy who lived.

It was one of his best works. In the drawing, Potter had one hand on his broom while the other was reaching out to get the snitch. His hair was all over the place, messy from the wind and there was a perfect smile on his face. The Gryffindor red collided with the green of the pitch. Draco drew it all by heart. He didn’t even looked at a picture of the boy, didn’t asked the boy to smile so he could get it right. The blond boy just took a piece of his best parchment and his favorite set of pencils and drew.

He took the drawing and rolled it up, before tying it up with a green ribbon.  
This is why he understood mother. His only goal for the day was making Potter happy, and it didn’t matter if Draco had coughing fits today because he would make the beautiful boy happy.

Draco casted a tempus. 9 A.M , great, right on time. He grabbed a plain white shirt and some dark blue pants and changed out of his pajamas. Then he fixed his hair putting a little potion on it to make it seem with more volume. It wasn’t much but it wasn’t as anyone would look, so...

The blond boy got downstairs as quietly as he could. Everyone was still sleep because it was a Saturday and the party wouldn’t start until lunch. Just a little bit and he would get to the kitchen.

“Disgrace! Shameful blood trait-“

“Shut it, old hag!” Draco hissed at the portrait. “Go to sleep.” And he closed the curtains. He kept on walking to the kitchen, once he was there he called for Kreacher.

“Yes, mister Malfoy?”

“Today is Potter’s birthday, I was thinking that we could do a cake for breakfast.” Kreacher just nodded and started to walk away.

“Wait, no, what I meant was that I could cook it and you would supervise that I don’t set the kitchen on fire.”

The elf was looking at him as if he had lost his mind, and maybe he had but this was for a good thing. Insanity was justified.

Draco had to admit that it wasn’t so bad. Cooking was kind of like brewing potions but with things that smelled nice. He found it very soothing. And the best part was the decoration, because it felt like drawing. He had decided to cover the whole cake with chocolate and then he asked Kreacher to get him frostings of Gryffindor colors to draw on it. Once it was done, he helped Kreacher set the table and waited for everyone.

When Potter entered the kitchen, he opened his green eyes very wide. He had Mr. Potter’s arm around him and Sirius by his side who also looked surprised.

“Happy birthday, Potty. Smile at least, I got up early to cook the bloody cake.” The dark-haired boy stared at him, he opened his mouth but no words came out.

“Little cousin, did you make all of this?” Sirius was smiling so brightly at him. He walked to where Draco was sitting and pulled him into a hug. They didn’t do this, affection was not their strong suit, but he tried for Sirius anyway and hugged him back.

“This is amazing, kid! The lion on the cake looks really good. Did it make your Slytherin hands bleed?” Draco laughed at that. He loved Mr. Potter sense of humor. Scarhead was still staring.

“Say something. You are giving me the creeps, Potter.”

The green-eyed boy pushed some hair out of his face. Draco knew it was a thing he did when he was uncomfortable in a situation. So, he didn’t like it. Great.

“I don’t know what to say. This is too much...”

‘Too much’. Yes, his feelings were too much, he was aware of it. It wasn’t as if he was proposing, though. He just wanted Potter to have a happy birthday, a real one. The ones that start and end with a smile. He started to feel tickles on in his ribs. Shit.

“Okay, I’ll take a shower before everyone gets here. Eat the cake if you want, if not, I think Kreacher can still prepare you something.” He said and left the room before the coughing fit started. Draco felt the tickles all over. He could hear Potter’s voice calling him (he ignored it).

“Malfoy, you prat, I didn’t mea- “And Draco closed his door a little too loudly.  
———————

He could hear that Weasley and Granger had arrived. Draco found himself on his bed, looking at Potter’s present. He should burn it. If the cake was too much, a bloody handmade gift was worst. Because cake could be eaten and it wouldn’t exist anymore. This would be something that Potter got to keep and, every time he would look at it, he would remember that Draco drew this.  
He heard a knock on his door.

“Go away, I feel sick.”

Ron opened the door and entered the room.

“You don’t look sick. It’s Harry’s birthday, don’t be a prat.” Draco glared at him. He didn’t even ask Of course bloody Malfoy would be the selfish idiot who didn’t attend to the birthday party of the Chosen One 

“Leave.”

“No.”

Stupid weasel with his stupid loyalty to stupid Potter. He looked at the ceiling waiting for him to be gone so he could cry in peace.

“There were a lot of versions when I asked what happened.” Draco kept avoiding his eyes. “From what I gather, you did a nice thing for Harry and he said the wrong thing.”

“It wasn’t the wrong thing.” He muttered. “I’m not deluded. I know we are not friends. It wasn’t my place. I just can’t go down there and be at the party after that, it’s too embarrassing, weasel. I’ll just stay here.”

Ron shook his head and got up to leave.

“The only thing that Harry asked for was for all of us to be there.”

And he closed the door leaving Draco feeling like shit.

—————————

He had changed his clothes again. With the dark blue shirt and the black pants, he looked more mature. Draco knew that joining was a bad idea. He was too emotional right now, which made it easier to get the coughing fits. The more coughing fits he got, the more chances of starting with the petals he had. Bad idea, indeed. He blamed Weasley, always asking him to be nice. He missed his Slytherins friends, they didn’t make him feel guilty for anything.

When Draco finally got to the gardens he smiled. Potter and his father were flying around, and Sirius was taking pictures of them together on the air. They looked so happy together... It always made him feel peaceful. He was watching them when he heard Granger beside him.

“Ron said you would join eventually, I wasn’t so sure”

He shouldn’t hex her and go upstairs again. He shouldn’t hex her and go upstairs again. He shouldn’t hex her and go upstairs again. He took a deep breath. It's not like he spent time with Granger for her to know that Draco was actually decent.

“Well, I’m here.” He said and went looking for the weasel.

Everyone was talking and having tea. There were a few tables with food distributed around the garden, he found Ron sitting in the one that was next to the ‘quidditch pitch’. The redhead was talking to a Weasley he did not knew. ‘That must be Charlie’, he thought as he walked to where they were.

“Are you happy now, weasel?”

Both turned to look at where he was standing. Charlie was gorgeous. His freckles were all over his face but in a good way (which was weird because he didn’t particularly liked freckles), his eyes were intensely blue, and his face was perfect, strong jawline and everything. Because of the nickname that Draco used, Charlie was glaring at him. Weasley, on the other hand, had a smug smile on his face.

“I am, ferret, thanks for asking.”

Draco huffed and sat with them.

“You are really emotionally manipulative for a Gryffindor. It’s ridiculous.”

“Yeah, well, it got you here so I regret nothing”

He glared at him. Charlie was looking at both of them with an amused expression. Then, Weasley introduced them.

“Charlie, this is Draco Malfoy. He’s the one that helped us in the ministry.” If anyone asked, that was the only thing that he did that day. “And this is Charlie, I already told you about him.”

The blond boy tried to fight the blush that was appearing on his face. He offered his hand to greet Weasley’s brother, the redhead took it, shook it kindly and smiled at him.

“Thank you for what you did. Mum always says that the twins and me are a nightmare, but since this one started at Hogwarts” he said pointing at Ron. “He’s been involved in more deathly situations than me in my entire life. And that’s saying something.”

Draco laughed at that, Weasley was right, he did like Charlie. He could tell he was kind and funny... and very attractive too, but that was just a bonus.

“Draco here is out and proud.”

Draco widened his eyes and turned to look at him. ’What the fuck are you doing, you stupid git ‘. Then he saw the surprised expression on Charlie’s face, before he smiled brightly at him.

“At Hogwarts? That’s amazing! I wished I could had done that when I was at school...” Draco shook his head softly.

“I never actually made a big deal or shout it to everyone...” He shifted in his seat, trying to feel a little more comfortable. “But I don’t try to hide it either. There was only this one time in which my best friend asked me how I knew I didn’t like girls if I hadn’t even kissed one; I kind of ended up kissing her and it wasn’t pleasant at all.” Draco shrugged and made a dramatically disgusted face. “And my parents weren’t thrilled about it but they always said that ,as long as I got married and had a heir, I could do with my privet life what I wanted.” The problem was that Draco didn’t have any interest in getting married unless it was for love. The pureblood duty be damned.

The redhead nodded at that and told him about how the first thing that Molly had asked about was ‘grandchildren’. Weasley seemed to be amused by how well they were getting along, occasionally making a comment or two in the conversation. He was laughing about something that Charlie said when Potter interrupted them.

“Malfoy, you came.” He looked surprised and the blond boy couldn’t decide if it was a good thing or a bad thing.

“Do you want me to leave or...” He heard Weasley groaned as he put his hands on his face. Potter shook his head quickly.

“No, I meant... No.” He sighed. “Do you want to play with us? You could be seeker on Ginny’s team. Ron is on my team as keeper but Padfoot is-”

“No, thanks for asking me though. I do not feel in the mood for quidditch right now.” That was a lie. He missed playing, but because of what happened this morning, playing against Potter would be too much. They always ended up chasing each other and Draco didn’t want to start coughing in the middle of the match, it would ruin it for everyone. Potter raised an eyebrow as he was looking at him. He knew Draco was saying bullshit. “Maybe Ginevra could play seeker for her team.”

Potter frowned at him; he was clearly pissed off about his response. He turned to look at the redhead beside him.

“Charlie? Are you playing?” Great, so his plan was to leave Draco to bore himself to death to teach him a lesson. So predictable.

“I think I’m going to stay here and chat with Draco some more, Harry.”

Weasley, who was looking at the scene in front of him, trying not to laugh, grabbed Potter by the shoulder and drag him away from the table. He could hear him saying to his best friend ‘Come on, mate. Let’s go.’ The green-eyed boy turned to look at Draco before walking away.

He had a nice time at the end, chatted with Charlie for a while and then spent some time with Granger and professor Lupin (call me Remus, Draco). When he realized, the party was over and didn’t have any coughing fits. He was so distracted by everything that there wasn’t a chance for him to get any.

—————————

Draco was looking at Potter’s present again. It was almost midnight now. A few more minutes and it wouldn’t be a birthday present, just a regular drawing. He heard a soft knock on the door, and hided the drawing under his pillow.

“Come in.”

Potter entered the room and closed the door behind him. The boy muttered a soft ‘Hi’ and stood there, shifting his weight between his feet. He kept looking at the bed like he was debating with himself whether he should sit down or not. Draco rolled his eyes and made room for him to sat down beside him.

As he was sitting on the bed, Potter started talking.

“Thanks for today.” Draco looked away.

“It’s nothing, Potter. I was feeling a little sick but Weasley told me to go to the garden when I could.” That... was a very distorted version of the conversation they had. Potter frown at that.

“I’m not stupid, Malfoy.” Yes, Draco was aware that Potter was not stupid. What was he supposed to answer him then? He didn’t even want to talk about it. “I don’t know what I said at breakfast to make you this mad but don’t treat me as an idiot.” He sounded tired, like if he lacked the energy to fight about this.

“You didn’t say anything bad. It was me, Potter. I was out of line. I should’ve suggested to Sirius the cake so he could do it himself or whatever.” The dark-haired boy was looking at him with a confused expression.

“Is that what you think? That I didn’t want the cake because it came from you or some rubbish?” Potter moved his hair away from his face and Draco could see his intense green eyes. He didn’t know what to answer him, so he just looked away and shrugged.

“When I said ‘It’s too much’ I didn’t mean it was too much because it’s you.” He sighed. “What I meant was that you didn’t have to. You got up early to do something that I really didn’t need because in just a few more hours I was going to celebrate my birthday.”

Draco opened his mouth to say something, but he interrupted him.

“Just let me finish. I didn’t need that, and you did it anyway and of course I liked it. I can’t believe this is even up for discussion.” Potter tone was so annoyed about everything. He could tell that the boy was trying to sound patient but he sounded exasperated. “The cake was brilliant, nobody ever did something like that for me before, so thank you.”

He started to feel the soft tickles. Potter smiled at him then and Draco felt like something about that day was fixed.

“I’m a little disappointed that we didn’t get to play against each other.” The green-eyed boy said softly.

“Oh please, you played with Ginevra and got to flirt with her some more.” He was so pathetic. He just had to bring this up, didn’t he? Potter blushed horribly and looked away.

“I don’t flirt with her. She is Ron’s little sister and she’s with Dean.”

“Sure, Potter. Just in case, remember that your father knows how to woo a redhead.”

He was so blushed. Draco was enjoying this too much (strong tickles of jealousy a side). The blond boy chuckled a little.

“You are one to talk about flirting. I saw you talking to Charlie the entire party.” He couldn’t place what Potter’s tone meant.

“That was hardly flirting, and he is too old for me. Remus would kill me.”

The dark-haired boy nodded. Draco casted a tempus: 11.55 P.M. Fuck it, maybe if Potter liked the cake he would like the gift. He searched under his pillow for the parchment.

“Happy birthday, Potter.”

He just kept looking at the drawing, touched the way the lines were traced, with a look of confusion on his face.

“How?”

“Well, I did it myself. I thought it was clear.” Potter stared at him, as if he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Then, suddenly, Draco was being pulled into a hug. He froze.

“I love it, thank you.” He was still hugging him, which was both good and bad. It was good because Potter couldn’t see his horribly blushed face, it was bad because the tickles were crazy right now. He fought the urge to cough, if he didn’t want people at school to know about the Hanahaki he needed to be able to control himself.

That night, Draco dreamed about the boy who lived. About being close to him and hugging him. How his hair moves while flying and how he always smelled as broom polish and treacle tarts. Mostly, he dreamed about kissing the smile on his lips.


	8. Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, Everyone! This was so much fun to write!!  
> I’m not going to update for a few days because I have to do a paper for college. As soon as I finish it I can write again.  
> I hope you enjoy this chapter!! 😊💕  
> Ps. I’ve checked but I’m sorry if you find any grammar or vocabulary errors.

August brought good news to Grimmauld Place: Sirius name was cleared. He still needed to do a trial in a few months, but he was granted a permit to get out of the house. It turned out that Mr. Potter was almost done with the test so he could be taken into account to vouch for Sirius.

It seemed as if everything was falling into place. The weird thing was that outside, things were getting pretty ugly. He couldn’t help but to be worried about his mother at Malfoy Manor.

“I just need you to tell her that I’m safe. And watch over her. Please, Severus...” His godfather refused to send information to her, which he didn’t like but after a few fights he understood. He tried to keep Draco informed about how she was doing every week (when the meetings took place).

Severus was still mad with him. The blond boy considered telling him, but he didn’t want to be pitied anymore. And there’s the fact that Severus would know who it is... Because back in fourth year, Draco went to his office (crying) and yelled at him about how utterly barbaric the first task was in that bloody tournament. He also demanded that Potter should be disqualified right there and then, to which his godfather responded:

“I will not let him die. He has to compete, there is no other option. Breathe, Draco.” He made a small pause and looked at him with kind eyes. “You foolish child... how long have you kept this inside?” And Draco started to cry even harder.

At least Mr. Potter and Sirius seemed to be blind about the whole thing. They still, occasionally, joked about Weasley being his secret love. How could someone see him around Potter and not know? He even felt embarrassed about how obvious it was. Specially living at Grimmauld, because he could call him all the mean names he wanted but he was in  Potter’s house. He couldn’t bully him in there or ignore him because it would be rude, and it would hurt Sirius’s and Mr. Potter’s feelings.

Just a couple of weeks and they would be back at school. Not petals yet, even though the coughs were getting worst.

He just needed a distraction, to take a walk, whatever. He had a plan. Next week the twins would open the shop at diagon alley and he was determined to go. And because he knew that the answer was going to be ‘No, kid, it’s too dangerous’ he made a list of precautions that he promised to follow:

1\.  Mr. Potter and Sirius would come  
2\. I will change my hair color (black) with cosmetic charms  
3\.  I will use Sirius old muggle clothes (because they will never suspect it)   
4\.  It would be a short visit (an hour and a half)   
5\.  In case something happen and I get caught I will not hold you responsible for that and I highly recommend to be obliviated so they can’t torture me for information.

He put that same list in front of Severus, Sirius and Mr Potter.

“No. Go upstairs, you are interrupting a meeting”

“I hate to agree with him but no, cousin.”

Draco rolled his eyes and groaned. It was just this thing! He never asked for anything. They were so unfair.

“I actually don’t see anything bad with it”

Mr. Potter was an angel on earth. Draco smiled brightly at him. The other two men were looking at him, furiously.

“It may have slipped your notice, Potter, but you do not have a good radar for deathly situations.”

It was the wrong thing to say. Mr. Potter face changed and looked with a severe face at him.

“I would recommend you shut your greasy mouth, Snivellus.”

Draco frowned. He never called Severus names, it was a force of habit because of Lily. His godfather really had upset him. And something shifted in the potion's professor too, something like pain and guilt. He closed his eyes and sighed before turning to Draco again.

“ONE hour. And you put something on your face that makes them think you are someone else.”

Draco nodded quickly. Pansy had taught him how to do his eyes, she had given him a shadow pallete last year. With that, the muggle clothes and the black hair he would be safe for sure. Sirius interrupted them.

“How did I turned out to be the only responsible adult around here? This is a bad idea and I’M saying it!”

Draco 01- Adults 00

——————————

‘This is so bloody weird’. Draco looked at his reflection on the mirror. The black color of his hair highlighted his skin tone and made the grey of his eyes stand out more. He kind of looked like Regulus.

He put some make up on too, black eyeliner and used a little blue metallic eyeshadow, very soft, to cover his eyes a little more. If someone would say he looked stupid, he could say that Severus made him do this. They didn’t need to know that Draco loved putting make up on.

Sirius had lent him a ‘Bowie t-shirt’ (which he still didn’t understand what it was, apparently some singer that muggles liked), some light-blue jeans that were ripped on the front and a pair of combat boots. He looked good. He thought it would be too weird, but the style suited him rather nicely.

“Kid! Come on, everyone is already there.” Mr. Potter screamed from downstairs. He grabbed his wand and left his room.

“Hey, Sirius! I brought your brother back too!”

“IF YOU DID BLOOD MAGIC I’LL-”

And then he stopped talking when he saw Draco. His mouth was open, and he had a disbelief look on his eyes. He could see the tears starting to appear on his eyes.

“You look just like him... I mean, not the clothes but- “He could hear his voice cracking. His cousin reached to touch his face and his hair. “Prongs can you come, please?” Now Sirius was absolutely crying and Draco felt bad about joking about it before. Mr. Potter came running then.

“Padfoot? Why are you crying... Oh”

“He looks just like him, doesn’t he? Like if Regulus was using my clothes.” He said between tears.

Mr. Potter nodded and pulled Sirius into a hug. He kept whispering things to calm him down and at some point his cousin relaxed. It always surprised him how well he knew Sirius. When he was sad, when he was happy, when he was pissed off (and didn’t tell anyone)... James always knew, and he always knew what to do about it.

He would never regret making that deal. Never. How could he? He didn’t know Sirius without James and he didn’t want to.

After Sirius washed his face, they left the house. They apparated to the shop and got in as quickly as possible, the more eyes they avoided the better, but when they got in the place was crowded.

“It’s okay, kid. Just be careful. We will be here if anything happens.” He nodded at Mr. Potter and left to find the Gryffindors. It was bloody difficult with so many people there. Suddenly someone grabbed his arm, he turned to look, it was Potter.

“I though the whole point of you using this stuff was to not attract attention.” He said in a low voice. Draco frown at him.

“The whole point was not to look like me, and I don’t.” He said as pointed to his outfit and make up.

“Of course, you look like you! And this is not blending in, Malfoy.” Potter hissed at him. So, Potter thought he looked horrible. ‘Don’t cough. Don’t cough. Don’t cough’. He pulled his arm away from the boy and crossed his arms, uncomfortable.

“Sweet Merlin, you are on muggle clothes!” He heard Weasley when he appeared beside him, he was jumping on his spot like a bloody child. Draco rolled his eyes. “We should send a picture to Charlie!”

Potter pulled a disgusted face at that. Draco had this theory that Potter was a little disgusted by homosexuality. He wasn’t going to say that being gay was a bad thing, but if someone  acted  on it or talked about acting on it... He would react like this. Crossing his arms, looking away, making disgusted faces or changing the subject completely.

“It’s a joke, Potter.” The green-eyed boy had an annoyed expression on his face anyway. Draco turned to look at Weasley, maybe he knew why his best friend was so pissed off, but the redhead just shrugged.

They started walking so Draco could take a look around the place. It was so colorful. It seemed as if there was only happiness in the shop. Everyone was laughing, having a good time, and Ron told him that the sales were going pretty well from what he knew.

The three of them were looking at the Pygmy Puff section. Draco couldn’t understand how such a little thing could be so cute and fluffy. Weasley didn’t seemed to understand how fascinated he was with the creature, he kept asking if he was planning on passing the entire hour looking at balls of fur (to which Draco responded that it was a possibility, yes).

“Draco? Is that you?” He froze. He knew that voice. Potter and Weasley were with their wands on their hands already, just in case. He turned to see the boy and casted a muffliato around them so they could not be heard.

“Blaise. Hi.” He said with a small voice. It’s not like Blaise would do anything to him, as far as he knew, his family was neutral in the last war. It shouldn’t be different now.

Blaise was so handsome. Sometimes Draco thought so much about Potter, that he would forget that there were other attractive people on the planet. Looking at Blaise right now, he remembered why he was the first option on his list.

The boy was about the same height as Draco. His dark skin looked so smooth, inviting to be touched. His deep dark eyes were looking at him as if he was in shock. Then Blaise smiled at him so brightly that it seemed to light up the whole room. He pulled Draco into a bone crushing hug while he was lifting him a little. His feet weren’t touching the ground, Blaise was so strong...

“Thank Merlin you are alive. Pansy will kill you for running away. You know that, right? Months and not even a letter saying that you didn’t die.”

He hugged Blaise back a little tighter, trying to convince him in that same hug that he was safe, that he shouldn’t worry.

“I’m hiding, I can’t send owls. I’m sorry, darling” He always used pet names with Pansy and Blaise. It was a habit that he got from his mother, she would always praise the ones she loved. She said it reminded them that they were important to us, special.

“You look great, you know? I thought you were a random pretty guy. I was coming here to seduce you with my charms” Draco chuckled at that. Blaise put him down and looked at him with warm eyes. “This suits you, Dragon. I approve.”

Draco smiled at him and did a little twirl. He heard someone groaned behind him and he turned around.

“I haven’t seen my friends in two months, either you are patient and let me talk or you leave.” Weasley had his hands up as if he was saying  ‘Not me, mate, I don’t care’  but Potter on the other hand was frowning at him.

“You shouldn’t be talking at all. He could tell someone he saw you with us. I don’t like it.” Draco glared at him.

“First: I don’t think the Zabini family will get involved in all of this. Second, Potter: who the hell asked for your opinion?” And that did it, because the green-eyed boy looked so pissed off that he turned around and left. Weasley sighed and said that he was going to talk to him, see what the problem was. Draco nodded and said that he’ll be right there, just a few more minutes.

“Well, that was something I’ve never thought I’ll see. Potter being protective of you, I mean.” Draco chuckled and shook his head.

“I think he’s worried that I’ll get kidnapped and they will know everything I know now.”

Blaise looked at him with an amused expression and shook his head.

“If you say so...”

They talked a little more, Draco promised to sit with him and Pansy on the train as always and asked Blaise to not say a word to anyone that he saw him, not even Pansy. Blaise complained a little but agreed.

“Just be careful.”

Draco nodded and gave him one last hug before he went looking for the Gryffindors.

He found them with Granger and Ginevra by the Amortentia fountain. Potter didn’t even look at him. The twins were making fun of their sister because of Thomas. Draco being bored grabbed a little vial and opened it.

He knew he would smell Potter in there, he just didn’t know how. He put the vial in front of his nose and breathed in the potion. It was marvelous. Something sweet, like treacle tart. There was also the smell of fresh cut grass mixed with broom polish... like the quidditch pitch at Hogwarts. The last one was Potter’s cologne, which Draco thought it was ridiculous because it was the cheapest thing ever. The things that attracted him the most were all Potter. He sighed; the soft tickles started to act up.  Please, not now.

He saw Potter frowning at his vial. Draco was sure he would regret it, but he walked around the fountain to stand next him.

“You look unhappy, Scarhead. What did you smell there? “

“It’s none of your business, Malfoy.”

Draco rolled his eyes. They stood quietly there, hearing Weasley bickering with Granger about nonsense. A few moments later the dark-haired boy spoke.

“This could be wrong, right? Like if it wasn’t brewed properly” Potter kept looking down, cute blush on his face. Draco smirked at him.

“If it wasn’t brewed properly you wouldn’t smell anything, besides, I smelled it too and it works fine. Believe me.”

Apparently, it wasn’t what Potter wanted to hear because he blushed even harder and put the vial down.

“Really, Potter, why is it such a big deal?” The boy shrugged.

“If you mock me about it and I will hex you, Malfoy” The tickles on his ribs were even harder.

“Out with it. I promise I’ll keep my mouth shut.” The green-eyed boy looked at him and took a step forward so he could lower his voice. He was looking at the rest of the Gryffindors that were on the other side of the fountain, as if he was making sure they weren’t going to be heard.

“One was Treacle tart... the other was the woody scent of a broomstick handle and” Potter looked down and muttered: “something flowery that's from the burrow.”

Draco just stood there. It was Ginevra. Of course it was. And Potter really had feelings for her because otherwise he wouldn’t had smelled her in the stupid vial. The strong tickles started, and they were worse than ever. He shouldn’t have asked. How fucking stupid could he be, Merlin. The first cough came out and he tried to push down the rest, to calm himself down, but it was useless. Draco was having a coughing fit and he just couldn’t stop.

“Malfoy? Do you need water?” Potter had a worried look in his eyes and he reach out to touch Draco’s back. He moved away quickly. If he touched him right then, it would be worst. Suddenly Ron was grabbing his face.

“Ferret, focus. What can we do?”

He couldn’t stop coughing, his lungs where burning.  Shit. Not now, just a few more weeks, please. He forced his voice out, it came out very rough and affected.

“Sirius.” And Ron was yelling at Potter to look for him and Mr. Potter and to take them outside of the shop, while he took Draco there too. He was still coughing and making his best effort not to cry from pain. It burned so fucking much.

When they got outside the three of them were already there waiting for him.

“Kid? Do you hear me? We are going to apparate you home, don’t freak out.” He turned to look at Potter who was arguing with Sirius that he should go back with them (his cousin didn’t agree). “Harry, stay with Ron. Please. We’ll go get you at the burrow later.” and he took Draco’s hand and apparated to Grimmauld place.

The moment Draco put a foot inside the house he ran to the bathroom and locked the door. He kept coughing but now he didn’t have to hide it, so it was a little better.

He looked down at the sink and there it was: a single flower petal covered in blood. He opened the tap and washed it so he could see it better.  
It was a little yellow daffodil petal, also known as narcissus. He knew what it meant because of mother: it could be rebirth and new beginnings or it was also a symbol of unrequited love. He clearly knew which meaning it had. Draco heard a knock on the door, so he quickly vanished the petal away. Both men entered.

“Are you alright? That was a really bad one...” Asked Mr. Potter.

Draco just nodded and said that he was better now.

“Did you cough any petals yet?”

He should tell them. He knew he should. But he couldn’t risk it. If Severus found out, it would be awful. He would be treated as if he was weak: they wouldn’t let him go to Hogsmeade without supervision, they would kick him out of the team, and everyone would look at him with such pity. It wasn’t an option. Draco shook his head.

“No. Don’t worry, it’s still only the coughs”

And then he smiled at them.


	9. The first week.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I’m back! I really hope you all enjoy this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it 💕 Please let me know what you thought of it 🙏🏻
> 
> Ps. As always, I’ve checked but sorry if you find any errors ( grammar or vocabulary)

September 1st was something that Mr. Potter and Sirius really waited for. It was their first time taking Potter to the station and they were utterly nervous. Draco could see them walking around the house without a reason, asking over and over the same things.  Do you have everything? , Harry do you need help packing?, Cousin, Do you need more jeans?, We should be there early, right?, Does this look like I’m a father of a teenager even though I look like this? . It was as cute as it was annoying.

The day came and Draco couldn’t help but smile as he saw Mr. Potter going through platform nine and ten and into 9 3/4. Sirius crossed with him, he grabbed his shoulders and help him to push his luggage.

The Weasleys were waiting for them right next to the entry. Potter greeted everyone asked in a very (not) subtle way where was Ginevra. Draco held his breath a little, he discovered that it helped to keep the coughs to a minimum. Normally he could control them quite well, the only problem was if something was too much.

“Hey ferret, are you going to sit with us?”

He smiled at Weasley and shook his head.

“No, I see you often enough, weasel. Besides, I promised Blaise I’ll sit with him and Pansy.”

Sirius approach them and put his arm around him.

“Is this the handsome fella that recognized you on Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes?” Draco rolled his eyes at that while he heard Ron chuckle.

“Yes, Sirius. He is handsome and we are friends, of course he recognized me.”

“That’s not the story I heard, kid” Mr. Potter said as he was walking towards them. He smirked and continued talking. “Harry told me that you flirted with this very good friend of yours.”

“Potter should mind his own business.”

The kept talking for a while, Weasley asked Mr. Potter for tips because of the quidditch tryouts. He honestly wished that Ron would get that position. Potter was captain this year, at least that should count for something.

“DARLING” He heard the high pitch voice of his best friend and next thing he knew she was throwing herself into his arms. Draco caught her and hugged her tight. Pansy started to give him kisses on his cheeks and forehead. He always had mixed feelings about Pansy being so physically affective with him, but right now he had missed her so much he didn’t care.

“Don’t EVER do that to me again. Do you understand?” She was pinching his left cheek. Draco said that yes, of course he understood. “Blaise should be here any minute now... Can you wait for him here and I go to get us a compartment?” He nodded and watched her leave.

When he turned around, everyone was looking at him, Draco shrugged and fixed his hair a little.

“You can go if you want... I’ll just wait for Blaise here.”

The rest of the Weasleys had already said goodbye, he didn’t want them to not get a sit just because they were waiting for him. But Sirius shook his head and smirked.

“We are not leaving until you get in that train and I think Jamie and me should greet this lovely friend of yours.”

He saw Potter huffed and started to grab his luggage and Hedwig too.  
He walked to hug his father goodbye and gave another hug to his godfather.

“Well, we are getting on the train. I’ll see you for the first quidditch match, right?”

“Yes” Said Mr. Potter as he rubbed his head, messing with the boy’s hair. “Remus will be there too; you are going to feel very embarrassed of us shouting through all the match.”

“Definitely.” Nodded Sirius.

Potter laughed and hugged them again, then he turned to look at him.

“Well, we’ll see you at the great hall then.” Draco nodded at that, Granger waved at him and then Weasley spoke.

“You can look for us in the train if you get bored of all the Slytherins, now that you know what’s like spending time with us, I mean.” He had a smug smile on his face, little weasel.

“I think that it’s  you who will get bored of the Gryffindors after spending time with me, weasel.”

Ron laughed and then the golden trio were walking towards the train, together, as always. If Blaise didn’t get there quick they could lose the train and as if on cue, he heard him right behind him.

“Salazar, I’m sorry, Dragon. My morning was ridiculously difficult.” Then he turned to greet the other two men and smiled brightly at them. “Hello, it’s an honor to meet you both. Narcissa told us some stories about your pranks at school, big fan.”

Draco blushed at that and looked away. Sirius and Mr. Potter both shook Blaise hand as they were smiling at him.

“Hear that, Prongs? We got a fan! Does this fan club include my little cousin? Because he didn’t tell us a thing”

“Yeah, well, that’s enough, Sirius. Blaise let’s go.” He said while he was blushing.

Mr. Potter chuckled as Draco started to push his friend towards the train. They shouted their goodbyes and told him they would see him at the match.

When they got to the train the started to look for Pansy. Draco was kind of afraid to face the rest of the Slytherins, especially since most of the pureblood families were involved last time. It wasn’t exactly a secret the fact that he ran away...

“Hey! I thought you would miss the train.” Pansy pushed them inside of the compartment and close the door behind them.

The train ride felt familiar. It was like he was back to real life, which was good because it meant that he could spend time with his friends again, but it also meant less of all the things that that summer brought into his life.

They spent the whole ride catching up. He told them everything he could, which wasn’t much, and Blaise and Pansy told him about the political climate in the pureblood families. The Zabini's, as he thought, were staying out of it: neutral. The Parkinson's were in a more complicated situation... The Death Eaters went to her house, claiming that it was vital for them to pledge their alliances to the Dark Lord, her father told them that he couldn’t answer right then but they were going to come back, she knew that. Draco really wished that Lord Parkinson would say no.

At some point Blaise got out to get sweets and when he came back with some chocolate frogs and some Bertie Bott’s, he took a sit next to Draco. Then, he saw that his friend forgot the door open so he got up to close it. He couldn’t.

“It’s everything alright?” Asked Pansy.

“Yeah, it’s just this bloody door” He opened more and pushed it more forcefully. Not a problem then. Weird. He sat beside Blaise, still confused about what just happened. When he looked at the empty space next to the girl, he saw a flash of something white that quickly disappeared. He frowned.

“Dragon, are you okay?” Said Blaise while he looked at him with kind eyes. Draco smiled and nodded, said that maybe he was tired. The boy told him that he could put his head on his lap to rest a little if he wanted. It was comfortable enough... most of all, it felt really soothing to be close to him this way. Maybe he had a shot at asking Blaise for an arrangement.

They kept talking about the most trivial things. As soon as the train arrived to the station everyone got down. He just kept sitting there.

“Darling... aren’t you coming?” The girl asked him.

“You go, Pans. I’ll be right there.” Both of his friends nodded and then they left Draco alone. Well, almost.

“Accio Invisibility cloak” and the piece of fabric came flying into Draco’s hands. Potter was staring at him, shocked, wand on his hand already.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me, Potter.” The boy frowned at him. “Would you explain why were you even spying? Did saint Potter thought that this was an opportunity to finally find out if I’m lying about what side I am?” The boy shrugged and crossed his arms.

“Maybe.”

Bloody Potter. All the things he made for him and he still didn’t trust him. Fuck him. He got up and left the compartment. He started walking through the hallway of the train.

“Malfoy! Where are you going?”

He didn’t answer. He could hear Potter’s steps behind him, then he got down of the train. The last carriage. Great. He started to walk faster to see if Potter would get the hint but apparently, he just walked faster too.

“Malfoy! Bloody hell, I’m sorry. It was just a stupid idea.”

No, it wasn’t. It was Potter being truthful for once since that stupid handshake. He coughed once. Not fucking now, you useless daffodils. He was so pissed off that there wasn’t any time for being sad over this. He held his breath. One, two, three...

“Are you going to ignore me?”

And now he needed to count again. He closed his eyes.  Focus. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven... the tickles were gone. Good.

When they got into the castle Weasley, Granger and Ginevra were waving at them. Draco walked to where they were sitting.

“What took you so long?” Said Granger, Potter just shrugged. Draco could punch him when he got like this. He turned to where Weasley was.

“Weasel, I know I was supposed to sit here but now I changed my mind. That being said, I will be going to enjoy dinner with my Slytherin friends.” Ron frowned at that.

“Why? You already spend the entire train ride!” Draco pointed to Potter before talking.

“You should ask the prat who lived, over there.”

He saw Potter blush and look away, guilty expression on his eyes. Good. Draco went to join the Slytherin table.

———————————

He was studying again. Since the incident with Potter at the train, he was spending his time revising his notes... Hiding at the library.

Draco didn't even want to spend time with Pansy and Blaise because they kept asking what was wrong with him. He knew he was coughing a lot; he could live without the bloody reminder.

At least the only petal he coughed was the one after the couching fit at the twins' shop. Draco was pretty sure that the reason that he wasn't coughing fucking flowers all over the place, was because he was the one who decided that he needed space. And even being his decission he felt this pull, this soft tickllish feeling every time he heard Potter laugh with his friends. It was as if the tickles were saying  Forgive him, look at that gorgeous smile, he is so sweet with the ones he loves.... And when he let himself look at him, to miss him, to think about forgive him, this other voice appeared saying  He doesn't need you, he doesn't trust you, remember?  and he would cough a few times until he left the room.

The library was safe. Potter didn't spend time there unless Granger forced him to. And Blaise and Pansy had the habit of not touching a bloody book until they had no other choice.

“We need to talk.”

Draco didn’t look up, he just kept copying the paragraph of his potions book.

“Why am I being ignored?” Ron complained.

“I am not ignoring you, Weasley. And please keep your voice down, this is a library.”

The redhead huffed and took a sit right in front of him.

“It sure feels like you are. It’s been four days and you are still avoiding me.”

The blond boy stopped writing and looked at him with a bored expression on his face.

“You are not stupid. You know I’m not avoiding  you.”

Weasley groaned and crossed his arms. He was clearly pissed off and Draco couldn’t blame him. He missed him too, they saw each other all the time at Grimmauld, but now they were on different houses. And there was the fact that he couldn’t see Potter’s stupid face without coughing. If the green-eyed boy didn’t want him around, then he wouldn’t be.

“Look, Harry didn’t even tell me what he did. He just said it was a bloody mistake and that he apologized, and you didn’t listen.” He chuckled at that, of course Potter wouldn’t say. Draco sighed and looked away.

“I’m not telling you, if he doesn’t want you to know. It will only make things worse.” The redhead groaned again. “And you can spend time with me whenever, Weasley. And let’s be clear, he is the one with the problem, not me.”

——————————

Draco was having some problems at the dungeons. Not with everyone, most of the Slytherins treated him as they always did, laughed with him, talked, whatever. Theodore didn't. He supposed he should start to call him Nott now. He knew that Nott's father was a death eater. The blond boy didn't need much explanation to understand why he wasn't talking to him. It was a shame, though. He used to have fun with him. It was a different relationship than the one he had with Pansy and Blaise because they weren't that close, and it was different than the one he had with Vince or Greg because he could barely talk with them. No, his friendship with Theodore was a particular one.  
  
He was his oldest friend ever. Mother used to arrange play dates for them when they were barely toddlers... and as they got older Theo was just there, all the time. he would cover for him when he would make a prank or when Draco got drunk on the Malfoy's annual ball. they kind of grew apart, their ideals weren't the same and most of all, his friend started to get really interested in girls and the blond boy wasn't interested in hearing about them.  
  
Blaise came into the picture around third year, when Draco was already accepting the fact that he was more interested in Potter than any of the girls in Hogwarts. They started to hang out more and Pansy even liked him better than Theodore, so that was that.  
  
He still spent time with Nott. Even with different interests, the boy always was there for him. And being with him was as easy as breathing. He used to think that if the world were perfect: Draco and Theodore would be in love with each other. But the world wasn't perfect. And right now, they weren't even talking.  
  
The problem with this, was that Draco was spending most of his time either in the library or at the dungeons. With the fight with Potter going on, it was rather difficult for him to spend time with Weasley, and he felt kind of lonely. Pansy and Blaise were getting bloody insistent on get him to see Madam Pomfrey because of the coughs. Like hell he would get diagnosed, everyone would make him be bed bound for the rest of his short life.

He decided to read a book outside for a change. If he was going to be a depressing teenager, he would at least have a nice view while he was at it. He found a quiet place next to the lake and laid down on the grass. Draco closed his eyes for a little while, to let himself enjoy having fresh air inside his lungs for once. Breathing was different now, though. He could tell. It was like if the air never got too deep. Fucking daffodils.

"Malfoy." He couldn't brood in peace, could he?

"Nott."

"I came to tell you that you are making a big mistake." Theodore sounded determined. Draco Frowned at that.

"Is that a threat?" He asked plainly.

"Take it as you want. You fucking know what I'm talking about."

Yes, Draco knew. It meant that because of the decisions he was making, they couldn't be friends anymore and, sometime in the future, there was this possibility that they both found themselves fighting each other at war. Fortunately for him, there was the possibility that he would be dead before having to point his wand against the boy. The blond boy looked at him, trying to be sincere.

"There is no place for me there, we both know it. And even if you were offering one... I don't want it."

When Theodore got mad it was almost imperceptible. Something changed in his eyes, like they were on fire, but his expression was so calm that somebody else would had missed it.

"You realize that now I have to be fucking rude to you?" Draco chuckled at that and rolled his eyes.

"I know how this works, Theo."

"Don't call me that."

What a prat. There weren't even people around. He stood up to be on eye level with him.

"Are you mad because we are on opposite sides now or is it because I helped Potter, Nott?"

The other boy looked at him with such intensity in his eyes. He was incredibly angry, Draco could tell.

"You do whatever the fuck you want with the golden boy. Just have in mind that, when the time comes, and the Dark Lord asks for his head in a platter... I would be asking if he wants it medium or well-done."

Draco pushed him. Not exactly a smart move; but he was so angry he just needed to do something.

"You are so bloody obvious, Draco. It's pathetic."

This was the real reason why they grew apart. He always made fun of Draco because of his feelings. The blond boy never confirmed it, but he didn’t really have to. It was this implicit thing between them.

“Leave, Theodore.”

The boy turned around and left. Draco could feel the tears starting to come out of his eyes. He could also feel his lungs burning.

He knew he was pathetic. This shouldn’t be a surprise for him.  Stop.

He grabbed his book and started walking towards the castle.  Don’t you fucking cough now, cry if you want. Better for everyone to see you crying than to see you coughing fucking flowers.

Tears were running down his face, he kept wiping them with the back of his hand. He started to walk a little faster. Moaning Myrtle’s bathroom was always empty, he could have the coughing fit there.  Hold your breath. Walk faster. 

“Malfoy?”

It was Potter. He kept walking. Draco just had to get out of there. He heard steps behind him.

“Hey, Malfoy! Wait! You are crying.”

Stop with the fucking tickles. He doesn’t care about you. He walked a little faster, almost there.

“Great observation, Potter.” He said without even looking at him. He couldn’t. Breathing was so hard, he wanted to cough in peace until the petals came out.

He ran the last bit until the bathroom and locked himself on a cubicle. Draco took his wand and casted a muffliato around him. If Potter heard him, he would call Weasley for sure.

Cough after cough, the blond boy could feel that something was stuck there. He just wished the petal would get out and be done with it.

And there it was: another yellow petal covered in blood... Maybe if Draco collected them, he could make his own Daffodil. Wouldn’t that be fucking nice.


	10. Code names.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!! This one is a short one.. I hope you like it! 💕 Tell me what you think of it! 
> 
> Enjoy ✨
> 
> ps. I’ve check but sorry if you find any errors in this (grammar or vocabulary)

He was winning at chess for once. They decided to arrange Sundays as the weekly meeting for chess, it was the only day of the week where they didn't need to coordinate their Schedules to see each other. The redhead was sitting in front of him frowning at the chessboard. They were at the great hall because they couldn't go to the common rooms... And because they tended to talk while they played, the library wasn't an option. "Give up, Weasley. You got no escape. "Ron groaned and glared at him. He took his bishop and made a small move.

"Harry told me he saw you crying on the other day..."Draco made his move and put a bored expression on his face.

"Care to share?"

"I do care, yes. Potter shouldn't be talking about me to you at all."

Weasley sighed. They kept in silence for a while but then, the redhead spoke again. "

Can't you just forgive him? Most of the times, Harry just does things without thinking. "Draco huffed. Stupid Potter, this is why the boy could break every bloody school rule and get away with it. Everyone forgave him because it was  Harry. "I used to do things without thinking and he didn't forgive me for those, so"

"But I did." Fucking weasel. Always making him feel guilty about things, expecting him to be the bigger person in everything.

"Can you, just this once, not make me feel guilty for not wanting to spent time with Potter."  
  
Weasley shrugged. Draco knew it was difficult for him, with the green-eyed boy saying that this was Malfoy just being bloody dramatic, and that he didn't have a problem with the blond boy. Which of course he knew it was a lie, the thing on the train is proof of it.  
  
"Well, I'm sorry. This feels like the beginning of the summer all over again." The redhead rolled his eyes and kept playing.  
  
"Maybe the balance of nature has been restored, weasel." He tried to smirk a little, to see if the boy would cheer up and drop the subject.  
  
Ron shook his head. Then he saw something behind Draco and a little smiled appeared on his face, he looked down at the chessboard and moved his knight. The weasel was feeling smug about something and it wasn't because of his move.  
  
Draco felt someone sitting beside him. He didn't even need to turn his head to know it was Potter. His stupid cologne was burning on his nose, the stupid tickles started.  
  
"Malfoy."  
  
The blond boy ignored him and kept playing with Weasley.The redhead didn't say anything, but Draco could feel his stupid happiness in the air. It was so weird how the boy could be so utterly transparent about what he felt (all the time).  
  
"I already said that I'm sorry. I don't know what else you want."  
  
And the blond boy lost his cool at that.  
  
"Of course Saint Potter doesn't know how to act in mundane situations. Let me explain this: I know for a fact that you are only sorry you got caught being a twat, BUT you are not sorry that you decided to fucking  spy on me."  
  
Weasley then widened his eyes and turned to look at Potter. Good. The green-eyed boy huffed and crossed his arms.  
  
"I'm just trying to be polite, Malfoy." He said in an annoyed voice. Draco turned to look at him.  
  
"I know what you are doing. I don't mistake your apologizes as a proof of your friendship, Potter. Believe it or not, I don't want to be your fucking friend."  
  
And there, for the first time, he could be truthful about it. It wasn't like oblivious Scarhead would had understood what he really meant.  
  
"Harry... I think it's best if you leave." Said Weasley in a kind low voice. The dark-haired boy muttered a 'whatever' and got up from where he was sitting. He was starting to walk away from there but then he turned around and spoke harshly.  
  
"At least answer my dad or Sirius. They keep asking if they did something to make you mad."  
  
Draco could hear the steps walking away. He sighed and put his head on the table facing down. He was so bloody tired of holding his breath whenever the green-eyed boy was around.  
  
"You shouldn't push away Sirius and James. They care about you." Draco didn't even lift his head to respond.  
  
"It's Potter's father and his godfather. I already have a family." He couldn't see the redhead's face, but Draco imagined he was frowning at him because he wasn't answering him. Maybe Draco needed to explain further. " It's the first time he has a family, it should be his, only his. I care about Sirius and Mr. Potter too, i just think that if I'm in their life or not; well, it should be Potter's decision."  
  
Weasley didn't answer right away. When Draco looked up, the redhead was playing with a knight on his hands.  
  
"I think... that Harry wants you to be in their lives. I actually think that Harry likes that you and I get along and-" The boy stopped talking and looked down.  
  
"What, weasel?" He responded with the little patience he had left.  
  
"It's just a supposition. I'm not even sure."  
  
Draco raised an eyebrow as he looked at him, to encourage him to go on.  
  
"Maybe Harry doesn't like that we get along  this well ."  
  
The blond boy rolled his eyes.  
  
"Yeah, weasel. That was kind of my point before, you are his best friend and now I'm stealing your time with him."  
  
Ron shook his head again, and sighed. He was doing an exasperated face, apparently Draco wasn't getting something.  
  
"What I mean is that maybe he expected to be the one you connected with. When we started hanging out it just happened, and I think that it pisses him off that you always tell me things."  
  
Draco frowned at that. Had Weasley lost his mind? Potter didn't even talk to Draco until he saw him and the redhead hanging out. He always thought that maybe Ron had told him to be nice and not to ignore the blond boy.  
  
  
"Stop doing that face!" The boy chuckled. "I'm serious about this! He is always asking what we talked about."  
  
"That's because he doesn't trust me! Didn't you hear what he did? He is so set on 'me selling my life to get into the headquarters'. I couldn't care less about the stupid cause, I'm glad that I got away and I'm glad that it was to bring Mr. Potter back, the man is an angel."  
  
Weasley nodded and then he muttered:

"I know."

\--------------------------------------

Dear Snuffles and Deer,  
Would you please stop bothering Fawn about me not writing to you? If you must know, I thought it would be wise not to send letters given the political climate. Maybe it would be safer to use another method of communication. Because I'm already sending this, I'm going to use it to catch you up a bit.   
I’m alive. The vipers are not giving me trouble. I just had this fight with one of my oldest friends because of, well, everything... but it’s just one person.  
I’m also not in speaking terms with Fawn right now (because of reasons). And you are NOT meddling.  
Apart from that, everything is good. I hang out with the weasel when I can and if not I study or hang out with my best friends.  
I know Halloween is near so I thought that maybe you could ask Fawn to go over there. I’m sure he would be granted a permit to go and you could use the company that night.  
I have the feeling this is the worst coded letter ever. See? This is why we need other options.  
Be careful,  
Chimera.


	11. Truce.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, everyone! Just in case I need to clear up some things;  
> Let's start with the code names... I chose them because of what they meant.  
> *Fawn:a young deer in its first year.  
> *Chimera:a fire-breathing monster resembling a lion in the forepart, a goat in the middle, and a dragon behind.  
> *Deer it's obvious (prongs) and *Snuffles: James used to call Padfoot that when they were young animagi.
> 
> The second thing is that I changed some of the quidditch schedule to fit the story, It doesn't affect the story at all, but I'm warning you in case someone realize that the dates don't add up with the canon ones.
> 
> That being said, enjoy!! Let me know what you thought of this one<3

It was a particular year at Hogwarts. Days passed and the blond boy could still feel the dark atmosphere surrounding the castle. At first, he thought it was him being paranoid but, as time went by, he could still feel it in the air. To think that everything was so near... It sent chills down his spine.

The attacks were increasing. Everyday Draco checked the Daily prophet to see the list of 'missing', wishing that he wouldn't read any names from the people he cares about. He still talked to Severus about his mother weekly, but sometimes it was not enough to calm his nerves.

But you know what was the most weird and backwards thing at school in that year? Potter being good at potions. It was driving Draco mad. When he asked Weasley about it, the redhead just shrugged and changed the subject. Stupid loyal weasel, always covering scarhead at things. Clearly there was a reason, the green-eyed boy didn't even touch a book all summer, so it wasn't studying.

Days seemed to be calm besides being very dark… It was like everyday was rainy day. He almost didn’t remember what a sunny day at the castle was. Maybe you could have some days where it didn’t rain but the clouds always looked like they were preparing for a storm. Draco liked to think that, behind the clouds, the sun was shinning as always, that no Dark Lord could stop him from enjoying a sunny day if he wanted to, if he put his mind into it.

That day was a Sunday, but he wasn't playing chess. He was with Weasley outside, practicing for the quidditch tryouts. And if you would had asked Draco, the sun was shinning brightly.

"You look like a troll on a broom, Weasley"

Ron glared at him and took a hand off his broom to show him his middle finger.

"I caught everything you have thrown, you stupid ferret." Draco chuckled.

"That's because I suck as a chaser."

He throwed another quaffle at him that ended up being stopped by the boy's head.

" How graceful."

The redhead got off his broom and grabbed the quaffle. He started walking to where Draco was and hit him in the head with it. The blond boy started laughing and tried to take away the ball from Weasley's hands.

" Weasley cannot save a thing " he started to sing.

Ron kept hitting him with the quaffle, it didn't stop him, though.

" He cannot block a single ring,"

The redhead put his hand over Draco's mouth, but he just kept singing the lyrics from the song. The blond boy pinched Weasley's hand and as his friend whined from the pain, he kept on singing.

" That's why Slytherins all sing:  
Weasley is our King"

"I could punch you."

"I know."

The redhead looked at him with a smug smile on his face.

"I'm going to get on the team, and I will enjoy seeing your stupid ferret face when we win the quidditch cup."

There it was, he had annoyed Weasley into determination. Good, with confidence he stood a chance.

"Malfoy."

The blond boy turned around and saw Potter standing there with an  
envelope in his hand.

"Potter. Whatever it is make it quick so I can keep mocking Weasley."

He heard the redhead yelled a 'hey' from behind him, but Draco ignored him. Potter extended his arm and offered him the letter he was carrying. The blond boy took it and started to open it.

"I got that this morning. I guess it's meant to be for you too."

Draco nodded and started to read the parchment.

Dear Fawn and Chimera,

We are happy to hear that you are both alive and well. Sorry if the letter is short but we agree with Chimera that this form of communication is a risk.  
Fawn, if Chimera doesn't know, teach him our other way of sending messages.

We miss you arguing around the place all the time.

Snuffles and Deer 

The blond boy turned to look at Potter.

"There is another way?"

The green eyed boy nodded at him. He leaned a little closer, Draco could feel his breath on his ear. Fuck, he was blushing and Weasley was looking at him with an amused expression as he raised one eyebrow. Stupid weasel. Then Potter whispered on his ear:

"The Patronus charm. You can send messages through them."

He was so close. Draco could feel the fucking tickles all over his lungs. If paid enough attention, he could swear he felt the petals  moving  inside of him. Draco had never been so close to him, so close that if he turned his head, he could kiss Potter on the lips. The tickles got worst.

"Potter, would you kindly remove yourself from my personal space?"

The dark haired boy looked confused but did as he was told.

He knew his face was as red as Weasley's hair, he could feel the heat on his cheeks and Ron was still looking at him as if this moment was the most precious and hilarious thing he had witnessed in his entire life.

"Do you know how to produce one?" Draco returned his attention to the boy in front of him. Those green eyes were looking right at him.  Stop you useless daffodils, he just whispered like ten fucking words to my ear.

"Clearly I  don't know. It's not on the curriculum." Potter shrugged and pushed some of his hair off his face.

"Well, I know how to cast it and I can teach you. I taught it at DA last year too."

Yeah, no. Absolutely not. He would not get private lessons from Potter in empty classrooms or whatever. The stupid flowers would not leave him alone, ever. He turned to the redhead then.

"You know how to cast it then, weasel?" The boy walked towards them, nodding his head.

"Great, then Weasley can teach me and I save you all the trouble, If they ask I'll say it was you who taught me. Problem solved." The blond boy turned around and grabbed the quaffle that was on the floor. " So... Practice?" He said as he turned his head a little to look at the redhead.

Weasley was doing that face he did when he thought that Potter would be mad. The blond boy didn't understand how they could be best friends if the redhead was always so bloody careful of not upsetting him or insult him by accident, most of all because the dark haired boy had so little filter to speak his mind. It should be two-way street.

"What? I, literally, didn't say anything wrong." He huffed. Weasley groaned and put his hands on his face as he took a deep breath. Well, excuse him, he didn't have a manual to understand the prat who lived. 

"I am telling you that I helped the entire DA to cast it and you choose Ron to help you, just so can avoid spending time with me? Are you serious?"

Draco frowned at that. Who could understand this nutter? Two weeks ago, he was saying that he only apologized to be polite and now he was mad at him for saying that he prefers to have extracurricular classes with someone that was actually his friend. 

"Do you want me to spend time with you, Potty?" He said as he raised his eyebrow. The green-eyed boy sighed and passed his hands over his face. Then he looked at him and said:

"Whatever. Do whatever. Why do I even bother? You are impossible." And he turned around and left both boys standing there. 

Weasley sighed too, grabbed his broom, and did a little gesture indicating to follow him. They walked for a while in silence until they got near some trees. Ron laid down on the grass and sighed like he was tired. Draco sat beside him with his back resting on the trunk.

"Ferret you need to see that he is trying. It's exhausting hearing him complain about you when you do shit like this." He said with a calm voice. Draco didn't say anything, so Ron kept talking. "When you outright say that you don't want to be his friend or that you don't even want him near if you can help it... " He sighed. " It upsets him. Harry gets in this weird mood when I'm around because It bothers him that you don't have any problem spending time with me." Suddenly, the redhead incorporated and sat down too. "OH, that reminds me! Harry said to us that you don't speak to him or Hermione because of the blood status. I told him that it was rubbish, but then Mione said that you don't normally speak to her or that you didn't tried to apologize for second year and-"

"Your girlfriend literally punched me on the face, I don't see her apologizing either."

Ron's face went so red at that, he widened his eyes and looked at him and hissed a response.

" She is NOT my girlfriend. I don't know what the bloody hell made you think tha-"

" Please, you are so in love with her! It's so obvious it hurts my eyes, weasel." If he thought that the boy couldn't go any redder, he was wrong. He saw him pulling his knees to his chest and looking away.

"Do you think she knows?" He asked in a quiet, shy voice.

Draco, honestly, didn't have the slightest idea. Gryffindors were so oblivious to things like this... but Granger was the smartest witch from their year, the blond boy supposed she would at least imagine it being a possibility.

"I don't know... I don't hang out with her that much, and she is not as transparent as you are about things.” He took a deep breath before continuing (at least as deep as he could). “And about Potter ridiculous theory, I don't talk to them because they don't want to talk to me. It's like they expect me to beg them for a chance and I'm not like that. And your prat of a best friend knows that this is not about his stupid blood status, he is just playing dumb.” 

He looked over at his friend, the boy had this worried look on his face as he was playing with a little rock he found beside him. Draco sighed and laid down. He didn’t want to lose Weasley over the other two thirds of the stupid golden trio. He would regret this.

“Fine.” He said while rolling his eyes, the redhead looked down to where he was. “I’ll ask Potter to help me with the bloody charm, and if this doesn’t get him to like my beautiful personality then I’m out. AND you must promise not to bother me with this again. This is me trying; take it or leave it.”

Ron smiled brightly at him and nodded enthusiastically. Draco rolled his eyes again. They were in silence for a while, he could feel that the redhead wanted to say something. Maybe something about Granger.

It wasn’t about her.

“Saw you blushing over there when Harry got close to you.” And he said it in such a smug way, so Weasley. Draco glared at him. “It’s that why you don’t want him around? Because you fancy him?”

DENY, DENY, DENY. 

Draco chuckled and shook his head.  ACT ALOOF, IT DIDN’T EVEN CROSSED YOUR MIND The stupid tickles were acting up. So, if he talked about him, he also could have a reaction. Great. 

“No, Weasley. I just never had a boy whispering things in my ear, it could happen with anyone.” That was a lie because Theo use to do it all the time, and Draco would get nervous or whatever but not that much. That was all Potter.

The redhead didn’t look convinced, but he said:

“Okay, I was just curious.” 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------

This was the weirdest thing ever. He was with Weasley at the entrance of the Gryffindor common room, the stupid petals were moving all over, and his breathing was so shallow he could faint in any moment then. 

Weasley got in and he waited there for Potter to come out of the Lion’s Den. He wasn’t feeling good. Scarhead was taking his time and Draco started to think that maybe it was because he didn’t want to see him at all, not even to insult him. One, two, three, four… He tried to breath, but the air was barely getting to his lungs. 

What was weird was that he didn’t feel like coughing. The good tickles were there, they were not so soft anymore, but he didn’t have the need to cough. It was like they were pulling him to Potter, like that afternoon when the boy whispered in his ear… they were encouraging him to be near him. 

That was not good though, Draco always had problems at controlling himself when the green-eyed boy was there. If he had something pushing him towards him it would be bad. It would be so obvious that whatever truce Draco could manage would be annulled when Potter realize that he is pathetically in love with him. Maybe he would even be disgusted of him. The strong tickles were appearing at the thought when he heard the boy’s voice.

“Ron said you needed something.” 

Potter was arms crossed, bored expression on his face. He was clearly pissed off.

“Can you teach me the Patronus charm?” The dark-haired boy snorted.

“I thought you wanted Ron to teach you.” He said as he raised an eyebrow.

“Weasley says that you want to teach me, otherwise you wouldn’t have offered. I thought you were just  being polite, like when you apologized for the train ride. I wasn’t going to bother you with this.”

The boy then looked a little guilty. He uncrossed his arms and passed a hand through his hair, leaving it messier than before. Then, he spoke quietly.

“The thing on the train was a mistake and I really am sorry. I kept thinking that it couldn’t be real: you putting your life at risk for us, helping us, just because… I mean-“ He changed the weight between his feet a little. “I know you must have your reasons, but I don’t know them. Everything I don’t know about you is in this grey area and I keep trying to find explanations. That was what the train was about and I’m sorry.” Then he gave Draco a beautiful smile and the stupid flowers kept tickling him, they were a nightmare, he couldn’t even remember what was breathing like, before all this. “To be honest this month was rather boring without you calling me a prat all the time.”

For Salazar’s sake, Draco was going to die from tickles on his lungs. That was what the newspaper would write as headlines: ‘Ex- Malfoy heir dies from tickles. He touched his ribs, pet them, like if that would calm down the petals that were inside of him. 

“It’s okay, Potter. I know who I am, and I understand why you did what you did.”

The boy nodded at him and seemed to be more relaxed now. Then he spoke again.

“Okay… good. And just to be clear: I didn’t just apologize only to be polite.” Draco chuckled.

“Yes, I got that, Potter.”

“So… when are you free for the lessons?”


	12. I await a guardian.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! I really hope you like this one💕 Let me know what you think! 
> 
> Ps. I’ve checked everything as always but I’m sorry if there are vocabulary or grammatical errors.

The following week started with the amazing news that Weasley was the Gryffindor keeper. Apparently McLaggen had only missed one while his friend blocked all the rings.

Potter and him had the arrange that the Patronus classes were on Fridays because it was the most weekendly thing they could manage between quidditch practice on Saturdays and chess on Sundays.

He was rather exited for the first match of the season. It was always a pleasure to play against Potter,but this year in particular he was sure that Slytherin would get the cup. Maybe it was this feeling he had that this was his last year playing quidditch, he had nothing else to lose, he would catch the snitch first on that match. He was determined to do so.

Draco was eating breakfast with Blase and Pansy that Friday morning.

" So, you ditch us again for the gryffindors." Draco rolled his eyes at the boy.

"You don't even spend time with us anymore! Just if Weasley is busy." Pansy whined.

That was a lie, actually. Draco spent every meal with them, and because their schedules matched all the classes they were, pretty much, together all the time. Except on weekends. And to be fair, it wasn't like they were making plans or something. With everything that was happening, both of them seemed to be kind of down lately and most of the nights they would go to bed early. The blond boy didn't know what to do to make them feel better, and he also needed to have fun, Weasley was fun so he spent his only free day of the week with him.

"Hogsmade weekend is near and I promess you I will only spend it with you. I will not even look at something red and gold. But today I have something important. I can't say what but trust me, I wouldn't be spending Friday night with Potter if I had another choice." He said in a calm voice, and put his best puppy eyed look on his face.

That seemed to work, Blaise sighed and nodded while Pansy looked a little annoyed but didn't say anything. Theodore knew about his feeling for the green eyed boy... Did that mean that they were so obvious that his two best friends knew as well? They had never said anything about it, but sometimes they would get really quiet when he mentioned Potter.

He looked over at the Gryffindor table. The dark haired boy was annoyed, maybe a little sad. Then the boy saw something that made him got up abruptly from where he was, excusing himself to his friends. When Draco looked over to find what was the thing that had upset Potter, he found it rather quickly. Ginevra was kissing Thomas with a smile on his face. 

Draco started to feel the strong tickles, the bad ones. The need to cough was unbearable. One, two, three..  He is in love with her, and when she realizes that he feels that way for her, they are going to be very happy together. Potter would be officially part of the Weasley family, and they are going to have lots of redhead children. She can give him a family in every sense of the word, you can't. The air was not getting in. His brain kept on listing all the reasons why the green eyed boy didn't belong with him. The coughing fit started.

He never had one of those in front of someone other than the gryffindors, and he needed to get the hell out of sight before he coughed petals full of blood in front of everyone. Draco started to get up from the table while he was still coughing, covering his mouth.

" Dragon, Merlin, we are going to see madam Pomfrey." Blaise was trying to grabb by the shoulders but the blond boy moved away from him. He was still coughing.

"Draco, stop it. You clearly have something!" Pansy hissed at him.

He shook his head as he kept on coughing and grabbing his schoolbag. Then he left the Great Hall as quiqly as he could.

As soon as he crossed the door he ran towards an empty hallway, and let himself cough the fucking petals in peace. His lungs were burning, it was like the petals were cutting their way out, burning the walls that were keeping them in.

One by one they fell in front of him. His eyes were full of tears from the pain. When the need to cough stopped, Draco counted them. Six yellow petals laid in front of him. This was getting worst. Fuck. 

"Malfoy? Are you alright?" He heard from behind him. He quickly vanished the petals and cleaned his mouth with the back of his hand. When he tried to speak his voice came out rough.

" Yes... It's over." He looked over at Potter. "How long have you been standing there?" 

The boy shook his head, he had a worried look on his face.

" Not much... I heard you coughing and came, you already had stopped when I got here."

The blond boy nodded. Good. He didn't see anything, otherwise he would be throwing a fit about it.

"Well, I'll see you after classes." He said a he grabbed his bag and turned away.

"What? Malfoy that was not normal. You been coughing for months now."

Draco shook his head and smiled a little. 

"It's a nervous thing. It happens when my thoughts get stuck on something."

That was... A very short way to describe the Hanahaki. It wasn't an exactly false statement but he did leave out some major characteristics, like the flowers in his lungs, for example. But the truth was that he only had coughing fits when his feeling were to much, when his brain got stuck on Potter not wanting him or when he thought about how long had he loved the boy, how deeply he loved him.

Potter looked at him, frowning.

"And dad and Padfoot know about this? Does Snape know?"

Draco shook quickly his head and walked towards him, he grabbed the boy by the arm to make him pay attention. Potter looked at him, startled. He was so close, his soft tickles were crazy. Focus.

" Your father and Sirius know.  But Severus doesn't, and he doesn't need to know. If he finds out he would worry and it's not necessary, I can handle it." He let go of his arm and moved a little away from him. "Weasley probably has an idea, but I didn't tell him."

Potter seemed to perk up at that. He nodded and promise not to tell. 

Draco was almost entering the Charm's classroom when he heard his Godfather voice.

" Would you be so kind to tell me what you and the Potter boy are hiding from me?" He said in that very characteristic time of his. His face was calm, annoyed too but Severus was always annoyed. " If you want to hide things from me, I recommend not to speak of them out loud." He narrowed his eyes. 

Draco put his most guilty face and walked towards him. He raised his wand and casted a silencing charm around them before talking.

"I asked Potter to teach me how to cast the Patronus charm." Suddenly the blond boy was an expert in telling truthful facts that weren't actually answers to what people had asked him...Maybe this was his new power, born from the daffodils themselves.

His godfather arched an eyebrow, unconvinced.

"Why?"

"To send messages, we don't want to send letters anymore. It's obvious they could be intercepted." 

" Even if this is true, why would you have the need to hide it from me."

Again, he used a truthful fact as an excuse.

" Everything is dark this year, the weather, the air... We need to prepare for the worst. If this is something useful to fight this war then I want it. I didn't want to tell you because you would stop me from getting in the middle of it all, but the thing is that I already am."

Severus looked at him with proud eyes. He could swear he saw the end of his mouth go up, for a very brief moment, to form a smile.

" I would not be as foolish as to suggest that you should stay out of it, after all, Potter is involved. You can't stay away from where he is, for better or for worst." Draco blushed at that, and looked away. "I'm still waiting for you to tell me about the bargain."

"I can't, Severus."

He saw professor Flitwick get inside and took that as the cue to abandon the conversation.

———————————-

Potter was late, it was so predictable that Draco didn’t even had it in him to be mad about it. 

Because he was bored, he grabbed his sketch book from his bag and started to draw. It was doodles mostly, to really draw something he needed time and even if the other boy was late... Draco didn’t think it would be enough time to draw something pretty. He was working on the wings of a snitch when Potter entered the empty classroom.

“Sorry! Ginny was talking to me about the training and I lost track of time..”

Draco did his best to ignore that Ginevra was even mentioned. He had enough of the daffodils for one day, to be honest. He did a gesture with his hands to indicate the boy that he didn’t care, and got up with his wand on his hand.

“Okay, professor Potter. Teach me.”

He could swear he saw the boy blush for a brief moment, he cleared his throat and started to explain.

“Basically you need to create your Patronus with a really happy memory.  
It can’t be something shallow, it’s got to be something that fills your entire being with happiness, with peace. The most difficult part in finding that memory... the rest just follows. Do you have an idea about what could be?”

Draco nodded.

“Okay... do you want me to go first to see the wand movement?” 

“Sure.”

Potter took a deep breath before casting it... Then he made a circle as he pronounced the incantation.

“Expecto Patronum.”

It was magnificent, a beautiful stag, a king of the forest standing before him. He couldn’t help but smile, the aura surrounding the Patronus was so calm, peaceful. It reminded him of Grimmauld Place.

He extended a hand towards it, and the gorgeous creature walked to where he was. The stag looked at him and crooked his head to a side, like as if it were analyzing Draco. The blond boy found it so funny that he crooked his head to the side too, before smiling to it again. 

The stag took a step closer to him and put his head on Draco’s hand. It wanted to be petted. He thought he might die from the cuteness of it all. He looked at Potter then.

“Is your Patronus always like this?” He asked amused by the creature.

The dark haired boy had a confused look in his face. He shook his head.

“No, he never gets near people unless I ask him to.”

The daffodils went crazy. He was special. A Patronus was a guardian, something that came from the most hidden parts of your soul... This was Potter’s and it liked Draco. Not only the stag liked him but he liked him more than anyone. He felt the tickles all over. 

“You are a cute one.” He said at the gorgeous creature. “I like you more than Potter already.” 

The green-eyed boy snorted and rolled his eyes. He disappeared his Patronus and looked at him.

“Now you try.”

It wasn’t easy, all the things he thought about were good but not enough, apparently. Potter kept encouraging him, saying that he took a really long time to get it right and that some people couldn’t cast it and that was it. It’s normal, Malfoy. The boy even suggested to leave it until next Friday and he almost hex him. If stupid talented Potter could cast a Patronus, Draco would cast one. Even if it took him all bloody night to manage it.

It was almost curfew, they had to get back to their houses but Draco was more pigheaded than any bloody Griffindor. If he could bring someone from beyond the veil, then he could cast this stupid charm. 

“Malfoy, let it go. We can continue another day. We could use Sunday if you don’t want to wait for next week.”

Draco frowned at that.

“Sundays are chess days.” 

Potter rolled his eyes and crossed his arms before responding.

“Yes, I know. But since this is important maybe an exception can be made. Ron wouldn’t care.” Draco snorted.

“I care.” The green eyed was frowning at him. “Besides, I think I have a memory that works. I only got one memory that’s more happy than the last one I thought about.”

And it was true, there was only one thing in the world that made him happier than the thought of his mother reading at him on summers when he was young.

Potter made a gesture to indicate him that he could try. 

He closed his eyes. That day replaying on his head. The sound of the little bell on the door... Draco standing very still as he was getting his measures, waiting. The awfully large clothes that the boy had, messy hair and sightly crooked glasses. Green eyes looking right at him. How his heart started to pound against his chest. 

Draco took a deep breaths before casting.

“Expecto Patronum.”

He knew it was going to work even before he saw the silver mist came out of the tip of his wand. He felt so peaceful... How could it not work if he felt like this? So all consuming, utterly, happy.

It was blinding, he almost couldn’t see everything as it happened. And then he heard Potter gasp behind him.

Draco blinked a few times. He remembered that he expected something smaller than Potter’s stag, something that didn’t attract attention. And now looking at this gorgeous silver thing... He couldn’t care less. He was so happy he could cry. A beautiful lion stood in front of him.

He extended his arm just like he did with the other Patronus. The lion looked at him, suspicious, but then he walked towards them. He moved around Draco a few times and then he laid before him, looking at Potter. 

The boy offered his hand, just like he did, trying to get closer, but the lion did a little growl and looked away.

“Who would have guess? You are a prat just like him.” Said Potter as he was smiling at the creature.

“Weasley is going to faint. He was so sure it would be a ferret.” He said as he chuckled. The green-eyed boy looked up to where he was.

“Don’t you feel less of a slytherin now, Malfoy?” 

Draco snorted and shook his head.

“You can mock all you want but I got a Beautiful lion as a Patronus and nothing that you say can take it away.” 

Potter laughed at that and then returned to look at the lion in front of him.

“Why didn’t you use this memory from the beginning? I saw you trying like fifteen times and I thought you didn’t know which one to use..” He frowned then. “But you were so sure this one was going to work... so you knew.”

Draco sighed, and because he lost focus, the lion disappeared.

“I think it’s a lot of responsibility, to be someone’s best memory, I mean. Powerful memories are attached to persons that you love... I was trying to avoid using the memory attached to a person in particular.” 

The green-eyed stood up, looking at him with a confused expression.

“Why?”

“Because, I’m rather sure that they don’t want to be my happy memory.”

The strong tickles were starting. This was being in love with Harry Potter: a rollercoaster of emotions. He went from being incredibly happy to sad and pathetic in minutes. He coughed a few times; fucking daffodils.


	13. The article.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!! I hope you like this one! Please let me know what you think ✨💕
> 
> Ps. As always I already checked everything but I apologize if you find any grammar or vocabulary errors.

So, apparently it was impossible for things to just go well for him. If something was in order then another thing would go to hell. Draco was that lucky.

Thanks to the Patronus, he could communicate with Sirius and Mr Potter without a problem; he just waited for his roommates to fall sleep, closed his curtains on the bed, casted a muffliato and then he sent his Patronus over there. Shortly he would get an answer from them and Draco found himself safe again, like when he was at Grimmauld.

The only problem that brought up the Patronus Cham was the one with Ron.  
Weasley didn't faint when he heard the news but he was rather indignant.

" How?"

Draco laughed as he prepared the chessboard.

"What? Are you jealous, weasel?"

Ron snorted and rolled his eyes, trying to seem unaffected but Draco knew better. 

"I didn't know your little Gryffindor pride was so fragile!" He said with an amused smile on his face. "If it makes you feel better, I don't believe it's about me."

The redhead raised an eyebrow, bored expression on his face.

" I swear! It's like your bloody dog! That's not about you."

"What the bloody hell are you talking about, ferret?"

Draco rolled his eyes, Weasley could be so obtuse sometimes. 

" Jack Russell Terriers are known for chasing otters. Ring any bells?" The blond boy said with a smirk.

Ron started to get awfully red and glared at him. He grabbed some of the biscuits he was eating and threw them at him.

"Stop talking about it!" The boy looked away. " Besides, dogs are loyal and Jack Russells are also known for being energetic, playful, and hard workers"

"So, basically, you are telling me that you are a Hufflepuff."

Another biscuit was thrown at him.

"Lions are proud animals... they are social because they live in prides. They are also territorial and protective. And last but not least, they are lazy fuckers that send the lioness to hunt while they sleep all day." Weasley snorted. "I don't see how any of that doesn't apply to you."

" Ha bloody ha. Joke is on you, because I will never have a 'lioness'."

The redhead was still eating, then he talked with the mouth full. 

"I'm sure, someday, you will find a poor bastard that spoils you rotten, every hour of every day."

He said it so quick, Draco's smile faded and Ron looked at him confused for a few seconds. Then he remembered and his eyes turned sad.

"It's okay, Weasley. I don't need to get married to be happy. If I make this two years count for something then I'm going to be happy. I swear."

His friend was looking at him, hurt, Draco felt awful. 

" If you would just let us help you! People care about you, you prideful stupid git!" He yelled at him. He was figuring out what to respond but the redhead stood up and walked away.

And for the first time ever, Weasley stormed out and let him alone playing chess.

It wasn't exactly a fight. Ron was too good of a person to ignore him, given the situation. But something was there, Draco could feel that he was upset and maybe a little mad at him. The redhead was trying not to show it but the blond boy could tell.

As days passed things were getting a little more rough between them. They would stay silent for long periods of time while playing chess or Ron would smile less when he was around. Draco hated it with all his being.

He still talked to Potter, there wasn't much to say, though. Sometimes he would stop himself from getting too close to him, too friendly; because he feared that, if they became real friends, the boy would start to talk to him about Ginevra. He wished scarhead all the bloody happiness in the world, they could dance over Draco's grave for all he cared, he just didn't want to hear about it.

31st of October would be the following week and the green-eyed boy told him about this  brilliant idea that his father had, of him spending the night at Grimmauld with them. He told him about how good it felt to be near them, because he always was kind of bitter at the feast, with everyone enjoying the night and having fun. 

Draco, of course, already knew that Potter was sad on Halloweens. He learned that back in first year... That's why he suggested this plan to Sirius and Mr Potter on his letter. He just pretended not to know anything about it.

______________

Draco woke up that Saturday feeling good about visiting Hogsmade. He missed drinking butterbeer at the Three Broomsticks or going to Honeydukes. Today his plan was spending the entire day with Blaise and Pansy, he kind of owed them, after all. And he missed them, he missed them being happy and laughing with him. So, that was his main goal for that day: making his friends laugh and smile a lot.

Blaise was nowhere to be seen, so he most likely was waiting for him at the great hall, having breakfast with Pansy. He got changed as quickly as he could and went to meet them.

Today, you are going to be really nice and you are going to let me have fun. Is that clear, useless daffodils?

When he got to the Great hall, everyone had a copy of the Daily Prophet in hand. They were all whispering  ’Can you believe it?’ ‘This is so awful, they should be ashamed of themselves’ ‘The anniversary is next week, who does that??’

He sat next to Pansy.

“What is going on?” He asked.

Blaise had a conflicted face when he looked at him. Then he made a gesture to Pansy.

“He is going to find out anyway.”

Blaise sighed and put the newspaper in front of him.

“It’s the front page.”

He could only stared at it. 

REBORN FROM THE ASHES: SIRIUS BLACK AND JAMES POTTER 

There was a picture of them under the headline, the were walking at the street, smiling at each other. It looked like Sirius had said something funny, because for a brief moment, Mr Potter  
threw his head back and laughed. They were close to each other, which wasn’t new... but in this context it seemed like it was. He started to read, then.

We all know that Sirius Black’s name has been cleared. This year we had the grand surprise of welcoming James Potter back to our world, and thanks to that we found out the truth about the events of that awful night back in 1981.

Both of them had been spotted on the streets of muggle London, as they were about to enter a restaurant, looking quite cozy. I think we all want to think that this is just a mistake, but sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words. 

We also could get a statement from someone who went to school with them, who wishes to remain anonymous.

‘There were rumors about them, back in Hogwarts, they were never apart. And the entire school knew that Black was gay, maybe it was even why he got disowned. Just saying.’

Only one week away from the anniversary of the death of the Potters (although now it would be commemorated as Lily Evans Potter death), it seemed rather shocking to all of us. 

As always, my intention is to keep my readers informed of everything, even when the news turn up to be uncomfortable. 

Written by: Rita Skeeter.

What a load of bullshit! Sirius and Mr Potter weren’t dating! They would had told Potter. There was no way in hell they would of hide this from him. They wouldn’t let him find out like this. And most of all, they didn’t deserve this, after all that they went through... it was too much.

He looked at Blaise and Pansy with a pained look on his eyes. He had to go, do something. Pansy sighed but nodded.

“You better meet us at the three broomsticks.”

“You two are the best friends that one could ask for” He hugged Pansy and smiled brightly at Blaise.

“Yes, we know. Now go with the Gryffindors, Dragon.”

He got up and walked towards their table. Potter was frowning at the article. He heard Granger speak.

“Harry, this is Skeeter. She wrote that we were together in fourth year, based on a stupid picture too.”

“Yes, mate. They would had told you, you would know.” Weasley was always seeing through people, always being perceptive. Draco sat down next to Potter,in front of the others two thirds of the golden trio.

“ I agree with both of them. This is bullshit and really insensitive, in so many levels.”

Harry turned to look at him,the frowned seemed to fade a little, before the boy nodded.

“Yes, you are right. Of course.” The boy cleared his throat before continuing. “I’ll meet you outside in 15 minutes? I think I need to be alone for a little while.”

Draco frowned at that while the other two nodded at him. They had worried expressions on his eyes.

Draco waited for Weasley and Granger to finish eating breakfast. None of them were in a mood to talk, the blond boy just wanted to check on Potter before going to the Three Broomsticks.

They waited for a while, trying to give the green-eyed boy some space, before they went to meet him. They walked in silence until Granger spoke.

“Are you spending the day with us?” She didn’t mean it in a bad way, her tone was more curious than anything else. Draco shook his head.

“No, Pansy and Blaise feel a little abandoned because I spend Sundays with Weasley already. I promised to be with them the entire day... But this happened. I’m meeting them there later.” The girl murmured something like ‘Oh... okay’ and nodded. 

When they got outside, Potter was not alone. Theodore was standing in front of him, with Vince and Greg beside him.

“Don’t tell me that you are crying, Potter.”

“Leave me alone, Nott.” 

He looked at Potter to see if he could find any trace of tears on his face: nothing. Good. Draco grabbed Weasley and Granger by their arms, indicating them to not get closer. Potter hated being saved, he could look after himself.

“Don’t worry. We are not going to tell anyone.” Theodore said in a fake tone. “I would be ashamed too, if I had a deviant as a godfather... Not to mention your father turning into a shirtlifter.” 

Oh, no. He was going to kill him. And Vince and Greg too, because they laughed. He found himself marching towards them, furious. He stood in front of Potter, looking at the Slytherins.

“What the fuck did you just called them?” Theodore, no, Nott; rolled his eyes.

“This doesn’t concern you, Malfoy.”

“Unfortunately, it does, so let’s try this again.” Draco took a few steps closer towards the git. “What the fuck did you just called them?” He hissed.

He was close to Nott, he wanted to intimidate him, to make him realize that he just made a big mistake. That moment right there, was his chance to take back what he said, and move on with his day. But Theo could never let something go.

His hazel eyes where looking right at him, with determination, with the desire of winning. Then he spoke really slowly, enjoying the words that left his mouth. 

“I said: Sirius Black is a deviant and James Potter is turning into a shirtlifter for him.”

This is something that Draco hated and loved about Theodore: he enjoyed being mean. The blond boy, always appreciated the honesty of it all, the brunette didn’t pretend to be polite or a good person; he was good with his friends and mean with the rest. Draco hated that sometimes he took it too far.

He pulled a face of disgust and disappointment and took a step back. 

“You think you are really funny, don’t you? Making fun of someone for who they love.” He snarled at him. “I personally think that the article is bullshit... but even if it were true, I don’t see how you could joke about it.” 

He laid the trap right in front of him.  Back the hell off, Theo. We both know how to play this.. The other boy just snorted.

“That’s because you are a fairy too, Malfoy”

Draco just smirked. You are so stupid, darling. I’m going to destroy you.

“See? Don’t you think is a little basic and old fashion? To make fun of someone for their sexuality, I mean.” He raised an eyebrow, smirk still in place. “For example, if I wanted to insult you... Maybe I would point out that your lack of wit and brains, could be because of the inbreeding.” He heard the Gryffindors gasp in amusement behind him. Theodore glared at him.

“Shut the fuck up.”

“Oh, but I’m not even finished.” Then he looked at him up and down and bit his lips. He could swear that Theo blushed a little, before being notoriously uncomfortable. “But if I were to stood in your level... I would kindly remind you that most of the openly homophobic bastards, turn up to be closeted and ashamed themselves.”

Nott took out his wand and Draco followed.

“Let’s remember that I’m better at dueling than you, Theo. Why don’t you save the little dignity that you have and leave.” Then he looked at Vince and Greg. “You too, I don’t even want to see you.”

Theodore looked furious and hurt at the same time. He gestured the other boys to follow him and they walked away from there. He was watching them go when he heard Weasley.

“That was  brilliant, ferret!” 

Draco turned around to see the boy. The redhead was already pulling him into a hug. He was surprised at first, they never hugged before, and at the moment, they were in this weird limbo of friendship. The blond boy blinked and returned the hug. Good, this felt normal again. He couldn’t feel Weasley being mad anymore.

“That was almost as cool as when Mione punched you in the face!”

Draco chuckled and pulled away from the hug to look at him.

“I feel honored, weasel.”

Granger walked to where they were, smile on her face.

“Thank you for standing up to them, Draco” 

He widened his eyes, dumbfounded. Granger avoided speaking to him... Now she was thanking him. He nodded.

“It was nothing, I’m sure you would had punched Nott in the face, if I hadn’t intervene.” He smiled at her. The girl chuckled and agreed with him. 

They turned to look at Potter, then. The green-eyed boy was staring at him... trying to say something but no words left his mouth.

“I’m sorry if I got in the way. He insulted Sirius and your father and I just couldn’t leave it.”

Potter frowned at that.

“He insulted you too.”

Draco nodded and did a gesture with his hand, to indicate that it wasn’t important.

“I’ve known him for a long time. He can’t say anything about me that I haven’t heard before.” The boy was looking at him, curious, and then he nodded.

“Do you want to come with us to Hogsmade?”

He started to feel the tickles.  He is just being friendly, you brainless flowers. Draco smiled and shook his head.

“I can walk with you there, but I really have to spend the day with Blaise and Pansy. They will kill me if I ditch them.”

Potter seemed a little disappointed to hear that, but he just nodded at him. The daffodils didn’t stop moving, making him feel tickles all over his lungs, pulling him to be near the boy; Draco force himself to stay where he was. He felt Weasley put his arm around him.

“Let’s go then, ferret.” 

The day was a little cold, but it was still fall ,so it was enjoyable to be outside. As they walked there, Draco noticed that Potter was rather quiet. He wished that the green-eyed boy wouldn’t worry about the stupid article from Skeeter. The Daily Prophet always wrote shit, everyone knew that. The ministry used them to manipulate information, it wasn’t exactly a coincidence that Sirius and Mr Potter were on the front page, while the disappearances weren’t. 

Hogsmade has this peaceful air that Draco always found very soothing. Since there were just a few weekends a year where the students could get out of the castle, everyone was happy, it was like a pause from all the awful things that were happening outside.

“Potter, enjoy today. To brood over it won’t get you anywhere.” 

He turned to where Draco was, anxious green eyes looking at him.

“Fine. Have fun with Zabini and Parkinson.” 

He said goodbye to Weasley and Granger too and left to find his friends.

The place was familiar, the smell of butterbeer, the crowded tables... He found them on their usual corner, near the fireplace. He sat down next to Blaise and laid his head on the boy’s shoulder.

“Thank you for understanding.”

“It’s okay, Dragon. Are you alright?”

He assented and offered them a small smile. Pansy passed him the butterbeer she ordered for him.

“Today we are going to be normal teenagers: we’ll talk about boys and school and shit. Is that clear?” The girl said with a commanding voice at them.

“Yes, ma’am.” Respondes Blaise, Draco snorted.

“Sure, Pans.” 

They talked a lot, smiled, made sassy comments and Draco felt at home. He missed them being like this, careless and free. Even if it only lasted for a day, it was worth it. Hearing Pansy’s laughter was worth it. Seeing Blaise making funny faces while the girl explained something was worth it. He would do anything to make sure that they were always happy, he loved both of them so much.

They were in the middle of a discussion about a top ten of hottest guys at school (Draco and Blaise didn’t count because Pansy said so), when he heard the gryffindors behind him.

“Ron! Come back here.” Potter hissed.

“I agree, let them be alone. We can-“ But Granger’s voice was interrupted by Weasley’s.

“Ferret!”

The three of them turned to looked at the boy.

“Weasel. Is something wrong?”

The redhead shook his head, and then he pointed to the rest of the room as he spoke.

“It just that all the tables are taken.”

“Don’t listen to him, Draco. He is just being a big baby.” Said the griffindor girl. Weasley rolled his eyes.

The blond boy glanced at the place. There was only one free table... right in front of Ginevra and Thomas, who were snogging their faces off. He chuckled.

“That’s off putting.” 

“Right??” Weasley said in agreement. He turned to look at the rest of the golden trio, making a face:  See! The ferret understands.

Draco turned to his friends.

“If Thomas kisses like that, I want him off the Top 10.” He said determined.

Pansy and Blaise had the same disgusted faces as they were looking at the couple.

“Totally.” Said the boy next to him.

“Ugh, that’s awful.” The black haired girl said, then she turned to look at the Gryffindors. “We are discussing boys, if neither of you care, then be my guests.” She gestured at the free chairs beside them.

“Thanks, Parkinson! Guys, come on.”

Potter looked a little conflicted. Maybe he wanted to sit near Ginevra... maybe watching her kiss someone was intriguing. Draco couldn’t see how, the only thought of the green-eyed boy kissing someone else was enough to make him cough. Finally, he sat between Granger and Weasley.

“Please tell me that Boot is not in this.” Draco threw his head back and laughed loudly. Pansy frowned at that.

“No! He is so bland looking.” 

“ That’s what I said!.”

Draco couldn’t help but smile. It was perfect. Granger participated in the conversation, refuting Pansy that McLaggen didn’t have any working brain cells, so he couldn’t be number five. They compromised on the last place of the rank because he was hot (even if he had the brain of a squirrel).

Weasley looked entertained, except when the gryffindor girl brought up a boy in the conversation. Maybe he would opined about the bloke’s personality if he happen to know him, so it could help them rank everyone.

Potter was quiet, observing them. Draco could tell that he was amuse , but he refused to have a say on the top ten. Maybe he thought it would hurt his straightness.

“Well, the moment has come.” Blaise stated. Pansy started to imitate the sound of drummers pounding on the table with her stupid hands. Draco only rolled his eyes.

“I propose you: Theodore Nott as our number one.” Draco groaned.

“For Salazar’s sake Pansy! This is getting old.”

“What is it , darling? Touchy subject?”

He crossed his arms and looked away, trying to ignored them. Gits. Then Weasley spoke.

“That prat literally called Malfoy a fairy this morning. He is not on the number one.”

“Yes, he is an awful person.” Granger agreed

“Please don’t talk that way about him.” He interrupted them with a low voice. Pansy was looking at him with an expression of disbelief. “Yes, he is a prat... but I know why he acts like that.

Blaise rolled his eyes and groaned. “It’s incomprehensible the way you justify him.”

“I don’t!” 

“You are justifying him, Malfoy.”

He turned to look at Potter, green-eyes looking right back at him, furious. Stupid demanding Saint Potter; always thinking that things were easy, black or white. 

“Let’s put it this way: what if your best friend were an homophobic shit. You lived so many things together and then boom, puberty hits and you realize that the fact that you like boys makes him uncomfortable. What would you do? Do you stop caring about them? Just like that?” 

Potter frowned at him. Weasley and Granger were looking at him with pity in his eyes, while Pansy and Blaise were still pissed off. 

Draco knew that they had this conversation a thousand times already. Often enough, Theo would said something that upset Draco, and then he would asked for his forgiveness. He didn’t know how this would work right now, since they weren’t talking to each other. He sighed, this sucked.

After that, Weasley proposed to change the subject and that was that.  
All of them got along pretty well, and although Draco didn’t say anything then, he knew that Weasley had just adopted the other Slytherins. He could see it in the smile on his face, his kindness radiating of him. The blond boy thought that, even with the awful way they started today, this was a very good way of finish it.

———————  
As Draco got in bed, he was rather surprise to find a chocolate bar from Honeyducks under his pillow. There was a note on the front of it, no signature, but he didn’t exactly need it since he could recognize the penmanship anywhere. 

Sorry.


	14. Gryffindor vs Slytherin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!! I’m so glad I could update this soon! Please let me know if you liked it✨✨ it’s so fun to read your opinions on the characters! 
> 
> Ps. Sorry if you find any errors (grammar or vocabulary)

Halloween came and Potter went to Grimmauld Place. Draco was happy that he could spend time with them, specially with the thing of the Prophet going on. He had sent a few Patronuses to know how they were, but their responses had been ambiguous and rather short.

When the green-eyed boy returned the following day, the first thing that Draco did was asking about them.

“They are fine. They hugged me a lot, I think they were feeling a bit lonely... and Halloween just makes everything worst.” 

Draco nodded, of course he understood. The fear of everything being an ilusion, the possibility of it going all away again... And also the guilt: because James was here but Lily wasn’t. 

“What about the article?”

Potter pushed his hair back and shifted a little.

“Padfoot was very insistent that it was bullshit, but-“ He shut his mouth suddenly, anxious eyes were looking at Draco.

“What, Potter?” The dark-haired boy shrugged.

“It’s just that my dad was very pissed off when we where talking about it. I feel like there is more than what they told me.” Draco frowned at that.

“Pissed off how? With Skeeter?” He asked, confused. Potter shook his head.

“With Sirius.” Draco couldn’t help but to laugh at that.

“Your father couldn’t be mad at Sirius even if he tried.” 

Potter looked down at his shoes as he responded. 

“Yeah, that’s what I thought, but he almost didn’t speak directly at Sirius when I was there. Only if there wasn’t any other choice.”

How weird... A world where Sirius Black and James Potter were fighting. It seemed surreal.

“Well, they are still coming to the game right? I’ll see it for myself then.”

Potter nodded, and offered Draco a little smile. The daffodils started to annoy him. It was getting worst; the tickles were almost always there if he was with Potter; and the coughing fits didn’t happen often, but the last time he had one, he had coughed eight petals. He just wished to have a little more time without the symptoms being obvious, right now he could hide it and live a normal life... He couldn’t say exactly for how long that was going to last.

————————

The first game of the season was Griffindor vs Slytherin, and it took place at the second Saturday of November. He was excited, counting the days to get back to the pitch and play; practice was nice and all, but the rush of adrenaline he felt while he was in a game could not be compare to anything.

A few days before the game, he was surprised to find Ron sitting on the floor, next to the Slytherin’s dungeons. Pansy and Blaise were standing in front of the boy, he walked towards them.

“Oh, darling! You are here. Good! Weasley is moping and we don’t know how to procede.”

He turned to look at his friend on the floor; crossed arms, an expression that showed little patience to any situation, pained look on his eyes. Shit.

“It’s okay, Pans. I’ll take it from here... You go with Blaise.” It looked like the girl wanted to protest, but the boy next to her took her arm and force her to follow him. Weasley and him were left alone.

“Do you want to go outside to talk about this?”

“No, she could be there.”

Of course it was about Granger, nothing could affect him so much like that girl. It also explained why Ron came looking for him, he refused to talk to Potter about it. Draco sighed and sat beside him, resting his back against the wall. He waited for a few moments, in silence, for him to talk.

“Did you know that Hermione kissed Viktor Krum in fourth year?”

Draco did know that, in fact, he thought that everyone knew that. It was expected. Victor was eighteen at the time, while Granger was only fourteen; logic dictated that they must of done  something , even if it was just kissing. To be honest, he was kind of relief that it was only that. Hermione was mature for her age, but when you are fourteen years old you don’t know shit and Viktor was  eighteen, almost an adult.

“I assumed that she did, yes.”

Wrong answer. Weasley was red with rage, indignant, hissing at him  ‘Why didn’t you tell me?’ ‘All of you were hiding this from me’. And he was wide-eyed, waiting for his friend to calm down. When the redhead stopped with his rant, Draco spoke.

“So, let’s see if I understand. You are mad at Granger for something that happened two years ago, when  you didn’t ask her to go with you to the Yule ball-“

“I asked her!” He yelled.

“Yes, but as a last resort, of course she already had a date.” The redhead frowned and looked away. “The point is that  it happened two years ago. What are you worried about? It’s not like she’s still dating Krum...”

Weasley muttered something that Draco couldn’t understand, when he asked to repeat it, he spoke again.

“I haven’t kissed anyone, if someday I kiss her I want to know what to do... Imagine if she is disgusted because I do something wrong” The boy pulled his knees to his chest. “It would be different if neither of us knew how to kiss, because she can’t compare it to anyone.” Draco frowned at that.

“Granger is not that shallow. If you two kiss is going to be great because it’s you two. Whether she liked to kiss Krum or not, is irrelevant.”

Ron seemed to relax a little when heard that, he rested his head against the wall and sighed.

“Make a move, weasel. The pining is is unbearable.” Ron chuckled, and looked at him.

“I can’t risk our friendship. If we date and it doesn’t work out, then Harry would be in the middle. And he doesn’t even like it when we fight.” Draco groaned.

“Potter is a big boy. Speaking of which, when do you think that Ginevra is going to dump Thomas for your best friend? I’ll give it a month or so, specially if he keeps being so obvious.” He said in a nonchalant way.

He knew that what he was doing was pretty basic. If he acted like he didn’t care at all, bringing up the subject like it wasn’t a big deal, then Weasley would stop having that stupid smug smile whenever he saw Draco and Potter together around the school. 

Ron sighed and rolled his eyes.

“I don’t think that Harry even knows what he feels. He never does, last year when he kissed Cho, I asked how was it... He said and I quote: it was wet.”

The petals started moving, hurting him. He didn’t know that Potter had kissed Chang... He thought that their date to Hogsmade on Valentine’s Day was a disaster, everyone said so. Draco should have heard about a bloody kiss. The air was not getting in. He needed to get out of there. Now. If he started to have coughing fits every time that Weasley said something about his best friend, he was bound to notice it.

“Ferret, are you alright?” Draco stood up, abruptly, nodding his head. He forced himself to speak, containing the urge to cough.

“Yes... I just remembered that I had to meet Severus. Sorry.”He practically ran away from there. 

Later he found himself counting the petals: eleven... They weren’t even hard to coughed out. Fuck.

————————-

The quidditch games were something that everyone at Hogwarts looked forward to, because they encouraged house unity. For a day, it didn’t matter if you got along with your housemates or not; you sang, yelled and cried for your house colors... This made Draco feel immensely proud of representing Slytherin on the pitch. 

Of all the quidditch matches, Slytherin vs Gryffindor was certainly the most important of the year. Not only because it was the first one of the season, but because the competition was fierce. The Slytherin team would push everyone off their broom if necessary just to win the game and the Gryffindors would cheer louder than in any other match. 

This could be his last year playing quidditch. His last game playing against Potter. He would win this.

Draco already had his quidditch robes on, walking towards the Great Hall to have breakfast, his best friends by his side. No one could take the smile off his face. Today was the day, he could feel it.

Pansy had some green eye-shadow on, with little hearts of green glitter next to the wing of her eyeliner, her lips colored black; and last but not least... she was wearing Draco’s quidditch shirt (that seemed huge on her tiny body) over her sweater. She looked like a Slytherin queen and if Draco were straight, he would have kissed her right there and then. 

Blaise never liked make up but he was wearing a green sweater, and also allowed the dark-haired girl to draw a green snake on the back of his hand.

Draco had the best friends in the entire world, they always supported him. Even with everything that happened in the department of mysteries... they never left him. 

“Little cousin!!” Sirius was standing in front of the entrance of the Great Hall with his arms wide open. Mr Potter and Remus beside him, and of course, the golden trio was there too.

Draco ran across the hallway and threw himself into Sirius’s arms, hugged him tight.

“ I’m so happy that you are here!” Then he looked to the men next to his cousin. “All of you.” He stepped away from Sirius to greet the rest of them.

“It’s good to see you again, Professor Lupin.” Said Blaise with a beautiful smile. Draco knew that it was because he found Remus attractive, he had told him about that in third year. 

“Thank you, Mr Zabini, it’s good to be in the castle and see you all too.” He responded with a kind voice.

“Don’t you think is a bit much, Parkinson?” That was Potter’s irritated voice. 

“Just because you would look ugly in this outfit, Potter, doesn’t mean that is ‘too much’” Said the girl as she rolled her eyes. Mr. Potter couldn’t help but chuckle until his son sent him a look .

“I think that what Harry here...” Said Weasley as he put his arm around the green-eyed boy. “...is trying to say is that we are going to destroy you on the pitch, therefore the outfits are going to look stupid when you are crying over losing.”

Draco smiled in an amused way, he never saw Weasley so confident. The blond boy arched an eyebrow.

“Don’t worry, weasel. You are going to do great out there.” Then he directed his eyes at Potter. “You, on the other hand, I’m going to make you wish you never caught that bloody remembrall. That’s the level of humiliation that I’m promising”. He stated with a playful smile.

Potter was looking at him with fire in his eyes. It felt so familiar to fight like this with him. The petals were crazy inside of him, they had been since that morning; the only thought of flying against the boy was enough to make the daffodils happy, now, he felt the tickles all over.

“I’d like to see you try, Malfoy.”

The blond boy turned around to where the Marauders were.

“Neither of you have Slytherin colors! I’m practically an orphan, how dare you!” He said with a fake dramatic tone.

Sirius and Mr. Potter laughed, although poor Remus looked kind of guilty. Then Potter spoke again.

“To be fair I was  actually  an orphan until five months ago.” Draco rolled his eyes.

“Yes yes, Potter, we know you were an orphan. Find another personality trait.” 

The dark-haired boy rolled his eyes as everyone laugh at their banter.

“I have to eat something or Pansy is going to kill me.” He heard his best friend yelling ‘You got that right’. “I’ll see you after the match, okay?”

“Sure, little cousin.”

And he entered the Great hall with the other two Slytherins.

—————————

Draco was so exited for the match, he felt the adrenaline going through him. He was watching Potter on the other end of the pitch, waiting for everything to begin. Madam Hooch blew the whistle and everyone started to move. 

Weasley was catching everything that his team threw at him, and the Gryffindor chasers where fierce. It all depended on how quick he could catch the snitch, with the difference of hundred and fifty points, they could still win.

Potter was flying right beside him, the stupid firebolt was too fast. They were chasing the snitch but a bludger was thrown at them and they lost it. 

Look for it. Fast. Faster than Potter. Come on, Draco. 

He looked up, and there it was... higher than he had ever seen it. He did a little dive to take impulse and flew in a straight line towards it. Another bludger passed by him, he dodged it. Soon he heard the sound of Potter’s firebolt right behind him. 

He sped up as much as he could, but his broom couldn’t compete. The only thing that kept him first in line to get the snitch was his determination to win that stupid game.

“Malfoy! Where the hell are you going?? That’s too high!” The boy yelled, he was still chasing him.

Draco extended his hand to catch the snitch, almost there. And then, it all happened so fast.

“Scared, Potter??” He said with a playful tone. Draco closed his hand around the snitch, bright smile on his face. Potter was still behind him so he couldn’t see him, and Lee Jordan was too busy commentating the score of Ginevra. 

“You wish.” 

There was no air. Fuck. With one hand on the snitch, he took the other one off his broom to cover his mouth as he coughed. 

It was too much, hearing Potter saying that. Too much memories invading his head, the flowers were fucking suffocating him. He lost control of his broom, and that was that.

As he was falling, he kept trying to stop the petals from getting out, he didn’t want anyone to see. Tears coming out of his eyes as he coughed the daffodils full of blood. Even if they were just a few... they would know, everyone would know. 

He couldn’t breathe, his head was dizzy. He held the snitch even tighter. Draco could feel the wind on his face but no trace of air was getting inside of his lungs, he could only feel the fucking flowers cutting their way through. Everything went black.


	15. After the game.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!! I’ve been dying to write this chapter 💕I hope you like it!
> 
> Ps. Sorry if you find any errors (from grammar or vocabulary)

All bad things happen fast. Harry had learned that from a young age. So fast, that one could only stare as they happened before your eyes. The problem was, that bad things were always happening around him. He was cursed.

He took the dive as fast as he could. It was not enough. And he saw it all. 

The coughs. The way that Malfoy was grabbing his own throat. The red face from the suffocation. Blood. How fast he fell. How fast he hit the ground... how hard the boy hit the ground. 

He got to the floor a few seconds later. But that was the thing with bad things: they only took seconds. It didn’t matter if someone was ‘almost there’ of avoiding them, they didn’t wait for the hero to come in. They happened.

He kneeled next to the blond boy. Something yellow covered in blood was scattered all over his chest. Harry took Malfoy’s face between his hands and tried to wake him up.

“Come on! Don’t do this to me, you competitive git! I told you it was too high!” He knew that he was yelling, but the prat wasn’t waking up. 

Suddenly, someone was pulling him away from the boy. As he was fighting to free himself, he heard his father’s voice.

“Stop, Harry. They are going to take him to the hospital wing.” He could feel the arms around him, hugging him. “He is going to be fine, Dumbledore and Snape casted something so that the fall wouldn’t be as-“

“What about the blood?” His voice came out strangled. “There was so much blood on his chest.”

All the professors were around Malfoy, trying to move him without hurting him further. Harry just wished they would let him get near.

Sirius suggested to wait outside of the hospital wing so they walked over there. Harry felt like everyone was moving too fast. 

They were the first to get there, then his best friends followed; and lastly Parkinson and Zabini, with Snape by their side. 

“Someone from St Mungo’s is coming. They don’t want to move him, and Madam Pomfrey needs help.” Said the potions professor.

Harry just nodded; his best friend, on the other hand, was freaking out.

“But What does he have?”

“Ron, stop. They clearly don’t know yet.” Hermione touched his arm and something in the redhead relaxed.

His dad and Padfoot had guilty expressions on their faces. Harry didn’t like that. Then Padfoot spoke.

“Actually... we know.”

Snape turned to where he was with a wild look on his eyes. His godfather casted a muffliato and kept talking.

“A few months ago, Draco told us what the deal was... He didn’t exactly knew what it meant, but I did. He asked us not to tell.”

“And of course you two listened to a sixteen year old. Because you are unable of thinking about the consequences.” He snarled.

Their faces were full of guilt. They didn’t even tried to argue with the man in front of them. Then, Snape asked them what it was.

“It’s Hanahaki disease.”

Harry saw how fast the face of the man changed, from pure rage to unbearable pain. 

At least this time, Harry wasn’t the only one who didn’t know what was going on. Parkinson, Zabini and his friends were all asking questions, demanding to know what this disease was. Snape was the first to speak, voice strangled.

“It’s an awful, rare, disease caused by unrequited love. Flowers grow in the patient's lungs until the roots reach the heart and strangle it to death. Unless the feelings are reciprocated, which almost never happens.”

Harry’s glasses broke right then. He was having problems to control his magic, he could feel it radiating off him. Hermione slowly took off his glasses.

“Oculus Reparo.” She murmured and gave them back to him. 

“Thanks.” He said in a low voice.

“We didn’t know it was this bad already. We asked, almost daily... He kept telling us that the was only having the coughing fits.” His dad was worried, he could hear it in his voice.

“Of course he lied, Potter. He knew he would be treated differently.” Snape sighed. 

Ron, Zabini and Parkinson were frantic, saying that they should have taken him to the hospital wing by force, while Hermione seemed to try to calm them down a little.

Harry could only stare. He felt so guilty. To think that, at some point, he thought that ‘the deal’ was just a lie that Malfoy had come up with... But, no, it was true: the boy was dying. 

Not only was Malfoy dying but he was dying from love itself. The boy loved so desperately that his own feelings were making him sick. 

He just kept seeing the boy falling in his head... or lying on the floor, not moving. Fuck. 

“Hello, I’m Healer Jones. I need to speak with the family of Draco Malfoy.” 

The man looked young. Harry wondered if it wouldn’t be better to have a more experienced professional, since the life of a teenager was at risk. 

Snape and Padfoot talked to the healer. Harry could get some things from the conversation and none of them were good news:

1\. There wasn’t any treatment, except maybe a potion to ease the burning from his lungs after a coughing fit.

2\. With time, everything would get worst.

3\. He highly recommended to avoid quidditch.  Yes, no shit.

Apparently the most worrying thing right now was the fall. Malfoy’s body had shut down because of the traumatic events, the combination of suffocating and falling from his broom, had taken his brain into the edge of what it could handle... Long story short, the useless healer, couldn’t do anything to wake the boy up, they just had to wait. Harry hated waiting. 

“Just wait? Did you see the state that he is in?” He said with a harsh tone. His father was trying to pull him into a hug to calm him down. He pushed his arms away and walked to where the healer was.

“You are telling us that he has a terminal disease and that he is not waking up, all at the same time? With such ease”

“Mate, it’s not his fault...” he heard Ron say behind him. He ignored him.

“Do you have any good news?” The healer was staring at him, dumbfounded, his mouth opened to try to formulate a response but nothing came out. 

Harry let out a groan, pushing his hair back with his hands, frustrated. His dad grabbed him by the shoulders and dragged him away, so that Sirius and Snape could finish talking with the prick of a healer.

“Harry! Stop, the man is just doing his job!” He turned to look at his father.

“He didn’t do anything!” He yelled. Something in his voice was cracking, breaking “Nobody understands, I saw him fall. I should have been faster. I just keep seeing it in my head over and over-“ He felt the tears coursing down his cheeks, he didn’t care. 

Why did bad things always happened around him? The more people he cared about, the more people got hurt. He can’t save them, he is not good enough. He couldn’t save Hermione from getting petrified. He couldn’t catch Petigrew to freed Padfoot. He couldn’t save Cedric from getting killed. He couldn’t save his friends from Umbridge’s torture. He couldn’t catch Malfoy as he fell. He sobbed, tears continued to flow from his eyes. 

He felt being pulled into a hug, the familiar smell of nicotine filled his nose as he kept on crying. His godfather kept whispering into his ear ‘It wasn’t your fault’ ‘Breathe,Harry’ ‘We love you so so much’. He could hear his father asking if they were allowed to see Malfoy now. He blinked, clearing his eyes. 

“Yes, normally I wouldn’t recommend to be allowed so many visitors but given the situation...” The healer looked at Harry then, guilty expression on his face. “I’m sorry that I couldn’t do more than explaining the situation. The only thing I can tell you is that his magic is still strong, kiddo.” He said with a kind smile. “ He is a powerful young man, his magical core decided to shut him down so he could recover after the trauma. Otherwise he would have lost too much energy trying to stop the coughing episode. When his magic feels that he is healthy again, he is going to wake up. That’s a promise.”

Harry hated promises. They were almost, always, lies that people told to ease bad news. He really hoped that this man was telling him the truth, though.  
—————-

Dumbledore said that his dad and Padfoot were welcome to come everyday to see Malfoy if they wished. They tried to get in touch with the boy’s mother but Snape said that it was likely that the letters were being intercepted by Lucius Malfoy. Harry hated that prick.

All of them had to keep attending their classes, which he thought it was bullshit. Who cares about transfiguration?  There is a sixteen year old boy in a coma . Parkinson agreed with him; in fact, she got detention for talking back to Snape about the way that they were handling the whole situation. 

As soon as the scholar day ended, the five of them would go to the hospital wing and stay until curfew. They ate together there, studied and talk about trivial things... Waiting for the bloody boy to wake up at some point, to call them out on the stupid things they said. 

Padfoot and his dad came to the castle everyday, but they stayed outside of the hospital wing when Harry and the rest of them arrived.

It was the fourth day that they were living like this. It felt surreal. Being with the Slytherins, next to Malfoy’s bed...

They heard someone outside, talking with his father and Padfoot. Harry frowned and started walking to where they were. The voices became clearer.

“I just want to see him for a minute. I promise I won’t be long.” It was Nott. 

Before he could say anything, the prat was already inside of the hospital wing, walking towards Malfoy bed. 

“Where the hell do you think you are going? Leave.” The way he said it caught the attention of the rest. Suddenly the room was filled with yelling, telling the boy that they didn’t want him here, to leave the blond boy in peace. Nott didn’t take the hint, though.

“Nobody wants you here. I don’t even want you near my father or my godfather. After what you said to Malfoy the other day, I don’t want you near him either.” 

Nott rolled his eyes and looked directly at him.

“You don’t know shit about Draco and me, Potter. Move or I’ll curse you.”

“If you do something to him, I swear-“ That was Parkinson, high pitched tone and everything. 

“I know how this works, Pansy.” 

Harry didn’t like it. There was an understanding, apparently. He thought that they all hated each other... But Zabini kept looking at him like he was going to murder him, so maybe he wasn’t so wrong in thinking that.

Parkinson offered Nott a few minutes alone with Malfoy. Ron and him protested, saying that they didn’t trust the git, but Zabini and the girl dragged them away from the infirmary.

“That’s the friend that Draco told us about, right?” Padfoot asked to the Slytherins. “The one that he was fighting with.” 

Harry felt a pull on his stomach, he didn’t like that he had talked about Nott with them. The prat didn’t deserve the boy’s friendship. He saw how Malfoy was with Ron or with Parkinson and Zabini. He was sure that Nott didn’t deserve that.

“That’s Theodore Nott. They known each other since they were in diapers.” The girl crossed his arms. “He is probably the worst person on the planet, which of course means that Draco sees the good in him.”

“Of course he does.” Said his father.

Harry rolled his eyes and then he heard something from inside of the room. Malfoy’s voice. He widened his eyes and ran inside.

The blond boy was awake, looking really tired. Soft smile on his face. Harry felt like a weight had been lifted. The rest of people outside followed him and froze. Suddenly, Parkinson was screaming bloody murder.

“ What did you do, you stupid fucker? The doctor said that he had to wake up by himself!”

Malfoy closed tightly his eyes and frowned.

“Pans, stop yelling, my head is killing me.”

His dad and Padfoot stood next to the boy. His godfather put a hand on Malfoy’s forehead to check his temperature.

“How do feel, little cousin?”

“Like I fell from the top of a building, Sirius.” He said with a lazy smile.

Nott chuckled. Harry couldn’t see how he found that funny. Then the grey eyes were on him, tired but happy... 

“I won the game.” He said with a huge smile. “It was on my ‘to do’ list, you know? To beat you at a game.”

Harry could feel the rage flowing through his veins. He took a deep breath, restricting himself from yelling at the boy.

“ Are you telling me that you almost died on Saturday for the stupid snitch?” He hissed.

“I’m dying anyway, Potter. I’m sure you heard.”

Something inside the room shattered. He heard bottles breaking and liquid spilling on the floor. Everyone was looking at him, worried eyes on their faces. The only one who didn’t care was Nott, he only arched an eyebrow and returned his eyes to the boy on the bed. Something shattered again. He couldn’t control the magic around him.

“...Okay” His father put his arm around him and started to walk him towards the door. “Let’s go take a walk, Harry. I could use some fresh air.”

He looked over his shoulder to see Malfoy. The boy was frowning at him, confused look on his face. Harry couldn’t blame him, he didn’t understand half of the things that happened in the last few days.


	16. Slug Club Christmas party

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You have no idea of how happy I am that I finally got to write this! Let me know what you think!💕
> 
> Ps. Sorry if you find any errors (from vocabulary or grammar)

The thing that Draco hated the most about everyone knowing, was being treated like a fucking toddler. 

Because he lied about his condition for months, no one trusted him. They didn’t tell him that, of course.... but Draco hadn’t been alone for not even one second in almost two weeks. He was losing the little patience he had. He even told Weasley last week.

“I’m not a child you know? I can go to the bloody bathroom by myself.” To which his friend only responded.

“Yeah, but since usually you go to bathrooms to cough your lungs out in secret... I prefer to come with.” 

Stupid fucking weasel; there was a reason why he did that. The only positive thing was that, since he woke up, he seemed to get the coughs so bloody often that nobody could know who was the person he was in love with. Well, except for Severus and Theo. 

His godfather didn’t say a thing, only that he understood why hadn’t he told him sooner. ‘ I’m not justifying your behavior, but I understand why you told Black and Potter. That being said: do not lie to me again, Draco. It’s going to be a problem.’  The words kept repeating in his head, Severus’s broken voice at the end... The blond boy felt kind of guilty.

With Theodore, it was different. They didn’t talk since he was at the hospital wing and Draco couldn’t help but to miss him a little. He shouldn’t, he knew that, but he felt so at home when he woke up to see the boy.

“Rise and shine, Draco.” The brunette was looking at him with a soft smile. There was something in the air that smelled wonderful... when he looked at the boy’s hand, he saw a little potion vial. He frowned.

“It’s just Amortentia... I read somewhere that the smell could help patients with the flower thing you have.”

Draco narrowed his eyes at that. Theo didn’t like to read, if he had read that, then it was because he was looking for an answer...Which meant that the boy still cared. He chose not to point that out, though; the brunette had a tendency to be mean when he felt vulnerable.

“What day is it?” His voice came out rough, his throat was dry.

“It’s Wensday.”

The blond boy widened his eyes, must had been in a comic way because Theo chuckled.

“Don’t say anything about this” The boy said, pointing to the vial before putting it in his pocket. “You weren’t waking up and I couldn’t think of anything else.” 

Draco felt so happy, he woke up to a reality where Theo still chose him to keep his secrets. He smiled as he looked at the hazel-eyed boy.

“Your secret is safe with me, Theodore.” Then everyone got in and that was that.

And even though both, Severus and Theo, knew that Draco was in love with Potter, neither of them made a comment about it. It helped him to feel less pathetic.

The coughs were small, he had them more often but they rarely ended up in a coughing fit. Maybe he would cough one or two petals effortlessly and move on with his day. Unless, of course, he saw Potter pining after Ginevra.

You know what was sad? That Draco woke up to a worried Potter. When the boy broke all of the bottles at the infirmary, with his magic being all over the place... It gave him hope. He never saw the green-eyed boy so upset and that made him hope for it to mean something. It didn’t. 

Potter was actually coming to terms with his feelings, so that meant that he kept doing things to make Ginevra smile or (this was Draco’s worst nightmare coming to life) he would talk to  him about how ‘he didn’t understand’ Thomas and Girl-Weasley’s relationship. 

The excuse he had came up with to explain why he coughed all the time,while talking to Potter about Ginevra, was the most basic thing ever. When Draco thought of it, he was hoping that it would be so stupid that ,maybe, it could work.

“Talking about people that are disgustingly in love, makes me think about how unrequited my love is, Potter.” The boy looked at him with pained eyes. The flowers started to move again, this time in a good way. “Stop pitying me. I hate that.” The boy chuckled.

“I know. I just-” The boy sighed as he rested his back against the wall of the hallway. “Who wouldn’t want you back?” 

The way he said it... so aloof. Like it wasn’t the most precious thing that Draco had heard from his mouth in six years. He blushed, the daffodils were moving like crazy. Then, he remembered, the boy in front of him was like this with everyone, kind, caring, he just loved that much. Right now, Potter and him had this weird kind of friendship going on... For the boy, that meant that he wouldn’t want Draco to feel bad, so he had said something that could make him feel happy.

Draco cleared his throat.

“He is straight.” The blond boy saw the face of the boy fell. Then, he blinked as he frowned.

“But that is not fair! What kind of deal is that??” He was glad to have the habit of casting a muffliato, because Potter was speaking too loudly for his liking.

“It’s a life for a life, Potter. I already told you.” 

“Did you ask him?” Draco snorted.

“I don’t need to ask. He only looks, talks and gets crushes on girls.” He pulled his knees to his chest. He hated this conversation, he had it with everyone already. It’s always the same: ‘you should at least try’... Draco didn’t want to try anything, he wanted to keep moping in peace.

“Who is it?” Potter was looking at him, determined eyes on his face. Oh, For Salazar’s sake. Saint Potter already had a plan.

“I’m not telling you. And whatever the fuck you have in mind: it’s not going to work.” The boy crossed his arms over his chest and huffed. 

———————

Since the hospital, the golden trio and the slytherins were something that went together. They would meet on the free periods, studied at the library, of even join him and Weasley on Sundays. Draco thought it was amazing. 

He was kind of worried about how it looked for his best friends on the public eye, he even told them that. Long story short: Pansy said that if her best friend had a terminal disease, she could pretty much do as she pleased. Blaise, on the other hand, said that his family couldn’t care less about his life at Hogwarts. Draco knew it wasn’t true but with the little time he had... He wasn’t going to complain about it.

They were at the great hall, classes had finished for the day; and there wasn’t anything else to do, but to hang out.

He was talking to Pansy about how much he missed having fun,  real fun, with the stupid curfew it was impossible for them to sneak out. Then, his best friend widened her eyes in realization, she turned to the rest of the group.

“Golden trio: you are going to Slughorn’s Christmas party, right?” 

“We have names.” Potter groaned. 

“I honestly don’t care. Answer the question.” Then Weasley spoke.

“I’m not invited, this two are going with  their dates” Weasley’s annoyance was palpable. That was a comment clearly directed at Granger.

“Ronald, you were the one who told me that the club was stupid! You can’t get mad because I invited someone else.” The girl responded.

Potter started to hit his head against the table repeatedly. 

“Why did you invite him? I asked you a million times and you still can’t answer. That’s because you made it on purpose.” 

“You are impossible when you get like this.” Granger said as she closed the book in front of her harshly.

“Can you NOT fight about this just for one bloody day?” That was Potter, he had stopped hitting his own head to yell at them. Blaise chose that moment to intervene.

“Pans, this is a touchy subject...” He said raising his eyebrows at her. “Was there a point..?”

“Yes, but they started to yell.” The short haired girl said pointing at the them. “Blaise: drum roll please.” His friend started to pound his hands on the table, chuckling. “We are going to sneak out to the Astronomy tower on that night and get extremely pissed. The teachers and Filch would be too busy with the party going on so it’s perfect!!” Then she looked directly at Ron. “And you are coming with us, Weasley. You don’t have an option!”

The redhead’s face seemed to light up at that, he nodded as he smiled brightly at them.

“You could get in serious trouble!” Granger hissed.

“Oh, Please. You’ve been sneaking out to do dangerous shit since first year! All involving the Dark Lord or Death eaters one way or another. If they found us, we’ll lose house points and live with it.” Draco said as he made a gesture with his hand, indicating that it didn’t matter.

“I have your favorite firewhisky, Dragon” His best friend pinched his cheeks and he smiled at Blaise.

He could hear the green eyed boy, whispering with the gryffindor girl; arguing. Potter groaned in a dramatic way.

“I don’t want to go to this stupid party, Mione!” 

“But you  have  to.” Granger hissed at him.

Why was so important? He couldn’t imagine Potter going to the party to talk about his career options... And the girl’s tone indicated that there was something that they knew and the Slytherins didn’t. 

“Who are you going with, Potty?” He asked as aloof as he could. The boy just shrugged.

“Luna. We are going as friends.” Draco nodded. That wasn’t so bad. Luna was beautiful but Potter wasn’t attracted to her, so it would be fine... No possibility of kissing.

“Draco, if you pass out we can call your Prince Charming.” Said Pansy while wiggling her eyebrows. He blushed and reached over to hit her in the head. She should know better than to make that kind of comments in front of the Gryffindors. 

“Prince Charming?” Asked Weasley with a smug smile. Draco rolled his eyes. 

“Ignore her, weasel. There is no prince.” But Blaise also had said something at the same time as he did.

“She is talking about Nott!”

Potter turned to look at them, frowning. Draco sighed.

“The prat’s lips kissed you and you woke up; I don’t have proof, neither do I have doubts.” He could punch her, she was so annoying when she got like this.

“For the millionth time:  he didn’t do anything, it was just a coincidence” Then he glared at her. “And stop talking about it, you are going to get him in trouble.” And then it was Blaise’s turn.

“My my, Dragon! Look at you, all worried about the prat.” Draco groaned.

He turn to look at the Gryffindors. Granger was looking at him in a curious way, while Weasley looked thrilled... The only one who was looking like this were the worst news ever was Potter. To be fair,  there wasn’t any news, Pansy was just being a bitch. Draco was pretty sure that the girl would actually punch him if he kissed Theo... It was clearly just a joke. 

Potter looked at Weasley, and pulled a face of disgust as the redhead took out a notebook and a pencil. Draco raised an eyebrow.

“What are you writing?” He asked.

“Private stuff, ferret.” The blond boy rolled his eyes.

“Then maybe write them privately, weasel.”

————————

Draco loved the castle at night, it was one of his favorite things ever. The light, the way that the air changed when everyone was already at their tower. He loved it immensely.

He was happy to share this with the weasel. It was like the boy had never lived a normal teenager life, the only reasons he had snuck out in the past was to defeat dark wizards. Now the redhead was beaming, walking next to Draco, checking if Filch was around.

“He is too busy with the party, weasel, and it’s on the other end of the castle. Chill.” Ron looked at him.

“I still think it would be easier with the cloak.” 

They climbed up the last stairs to get to the astronomy tower, Blaise and Pansy were already there, bottle in hand.

“Thank Merlin, we were about to start without you. Did you bring the glasses?” Asked the girl. Draco showed her the glasses in his hands.

“Weasley was having trouble to leave his dorm. Apparently in the Gryffindor tower, people  asks questions.” Draco answered making a face at his best friends.

“That sounds horrible.” Said Blaise as he chuckled.

Weasley seemed amused by the whole thing, they sat in front of them, forming a little circle on the floor.

“So since Weasley is new here...” Pansy started. “I was thinking about a good old ‘Never have I ever’.” 

Draco smiled brightly as he nodded. He turned to the redhead.

“Do you know the rules, weasel?” Ron shook his head. “Well, it’s simple. Each of us gets a glass filled with firewhiskey, someone says something they never have done, and if you’ve done it: you drink.” 

“Who wins?” Asked the poor innocent Gryffindor.

“No one. That’s the beauty of it. By the end of the game, either you are drunk and everyone knows your secrets or you are still sober and everyone knows your secrets.” Blaise responded. Weasley chuckled.

They started easy... Who walked naked around the house, who cheated on a test, who was scared of a professor. The Slytherins didn’t want to scare Weasley away if they asked the good questions too fast. Draco was at the middle of his glass when Pansy started to  really play, which wasn’t a good thing because he was already feeling tipsy and that meant less mouth filter.

“Never have I ever...” And she looked at the blond boy directly in the eye. “Kissed someone.” Of course, Pansy had kissed someone so she drank too. Draco rolled his eyes.

“I didn’t kiss anyone, you know that. Unless you are counting that lame attempt in fourth year.”

“We were just making sure, Dragon.” Stupid Blaise drank after saying that. Then he caught Weasley putting the glass on his lips with the corner of his eye. He turned to look at him with widened eyes, expecting an explanation.

“Lavender Brown.” He said as he made a face because of the firewhiskey was burning his throat. Draco just raised his arms over his head  what the hell, Weasley.

“What about Granger??” He hissed. The redhead blushed and turned to look at the other Slytherins, shocked. The blond boy rolled his eyes. “They know, everyone  knows, that’s why I don’t understand how this happened.” Weasley shrugged.

“It happened a few weeks ago, we were alone at the Common Room, I was still pissed about what Ginny said about Mione and Krum... and I thought ‘what the hell’” The redhead sighed. “I think Hermione heard about it because she’s been rather short with me lately, hence her going with stupid McLaggen to the bloody party.” He ended the sentence with a little groan. 

“ I hate Gryffindors. It’s like you guys need a fucking manual to get laid.” Pansy was drunk already. Draco knew that because, she tended to get meaner as the alcohol level in her body seemed to increased. The girl just kept talking. “You listen to me, Weasley. Do exactly as I say. When you go back to the tower tonight, you wait for her to come back; when you see her, you tell her she looks beautiful. Then, when she asks you if you had a good time with us you answer: yeah, but I would have been more fun with you, Mione.”

Ron had an amused smile on his face as he responded ‘Sure, Parkinson’. The redhead continued the game.

“Never have I ever had a fantasy of shagging my (boy) best mate.” 

He blushed as red as ever. Fucking Weasel. In front of Blaise, of all people. Draco drank, looking away.

“Darling! Oh Salazar, this is precious.”

When he turned his head to see Blaise, the boy had an amused bright smile. He raised an eyebrow.

“Theo or me?” He asked. Draco blushed even harder.

“Both.” Weasley laughed, clapping his hands ‘way to go, ferret’. The blond boy punched him in the arm.

“In that case...” the Blaise said and drank too. Holy fuck. Pansy widened her eyes, grabbing her own hair as she spoke.

“I can’t stop watching. I’m going to die.” Blaise chuckled.

“ I thought you didn’t want to die without doing something with a boy, ferret.” Draco punched him in the arm again.

Blaise leaned near him. Draco could smell his expensive cologne, so different from Potter’s. He felt like he was about to die from being a gay mess. His hormones were screaming ‘JUST KISS HIM’ ,but the flowers in his lungs were hurting him ‘ Not him, not him, not him’. But Weasley was right, this was his fucking chance. Draco grabbed Blaise by his neck and kissed him. 

His lips were soft, warm. Blaise returned the kiss as he started to move his lips with Draco’s. It felt odd, the kiss was good but the daffodils were fully aware that this was not Potter. Suddenly, his thoughts were shut off because Blaise was grabbing the bottom of his sweater, pulling him even nearer. The kiss deepened.

“Not that I’m complaining because this is like my favorite fantasy come true...” Pansy started. “But maybe you want to continue that in the dorm.”

They broke away, Draco felt like his face was on fire. He turned to look at Weasley who had a smug smile on his face.

“I just made that happen. I’m like the fairy godmother of gays.” And the Slytherins couldn’t help but to burst into laughter. 

By the end of the bottle the four of them were drunk and walking again to their common rooms. Weasley said good night and tripped himself as he entered the Gryffindor tower. When they returned to the dungeons, Pansy hugged them and asked them if she could go watch. Draco chuckled and sent her to the girls room.

Blaise was quiet as he hold his hand, and entered their room. Theodore was awake, his eyes went directly to were their hands were intertwined.

“Zabini, cast a silencing charm.” Theo said harshly as he closed his curtains abruptly. 

Draco felt uncomfortable, it was his room too. He didn’t want to put the brunette in a bad mood because of this. He felt Blaise squeezed his hand.

“Ignore him, Dragon. Come on.” He said as he guided him towards his bed. 

The blond boy felt so nervous, the flowers inside of him were moving, frantic.  NOT HIM, NOT HIM, NOT HIM. He sat in the middle of the boy’s bed, as he waited for Blaise to shut the curtains and cast the muffliato around them. 

Dark eyes were on his.

“Are you sure about this? We can do whatever you want.” His friend said with concern. Draco snorted.

“Why are you doing this, Blaise?” The boy offered him a smug smile. 

“Because you are hot, Dragon.” The blond boy chuckled, as his friend sat next to him; he heard him sighed. “I know it’s not me. Pansy even asked me if it was a possibility... but I know it’s not. We are too much friends for it to be me. You don’t get nervous around me, you don’t usually blush... So I understand if you need to do this, before everything goes to hell. I heard loud and clear what Weasley said.”

Draco felt tears forming in his eyes. The daffodils kept moving, the only reason he hadn’t coughed was because they hadn’t touched again. He took a deep breath and laid on the bed.

“Did you felt anything when we kissed?” He asked in a low voice. Because kissing was great but Draco didn’t feel that want, that need to breath in the other person, that wish of a never ending moment... All the things he read on books, they weren’t there. Maybe it was because of the Hanahaki, maybe the daffodils broke something inside of him. 

Blaise laid next to him, dark eyes looking at him, with such understanding... Draco felt like he could breathe again. The boy moved a straw of hair away from his face.

“No, Dragon... But there is nothing wrong with that. I still love you, and you still love me... even if it’s not in the way that it’s supposed to be.” Draco felt as the tears began to course down his cheeks. “I wasn’t lying when I drank that firewhiskey. It crossed my mind... How could it not have? Look at you.” 

Draco laughed, the combination with the crying was somewhat comical; and murmured ‘Right back at you, darling’. Blaise chuckled.

He couldn’t be with Blaise like that. He could never be intimate with anyone if he didn’t feel  that way, at least in a small amount. He just wished he would find someone before the symptoms got ugly. Draco looked at his friend and smiled brightly at him.

“I’m glad you were my first kiss, though. I love you, darling.”

Blaise returned the smile and gave him a kiss on his forehead.

“I love you too, Dragon.”


	17. Back at Grimmauld Place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!! I hope you like this one! Tell me in the comments what you thought 💕
> 
> Ps. I’ve checked but I apologize fo any errors (grammar or vocabulary) this may have.

Getting in the train, knowing that in a few hours he would be at Grimmauld Place was a relief. He was excited about spending Christmas with Sirius and Mr Potter.

Draco was in a compartment with Blaise and Pansy. Apparently, the golden trio had some top secret business that they needed to discuss, so they had chose to sit by themselves. 

The train ride was longer that Draco remembered, or maybe, he felt that way because he wanted to arrive to London as soon as possible. 

Pansy was asking him to help her with an arithmancy problem when Weasley bursted through the door and closed it behind him.Then he turned to look at Draco. He was red face, angry. 

“I’m going to ask you something and you  can’t  lie to me, ferret. Okay?” The blond just nodded. The three Slytherins were sharing looks with each other, trying to understand what was going on. The redhead took a deep breath. “Did you ,or did you not, had a coughing fit after the kiss?” Draco frowned. That was the big question?

“I didn’t, weasel... What’s going on?” Ron seemed relived to hear that. He sighed and let his weight fall on the empty sit next to Blaise.

“It’s Harry. I had to get out of there before I’d kill him.” 

It turned out that it was the most ridiculous fight ever. Apparently, Potter thought that it could be dangerous for Draco to be with someone else, other than ‘his right person’. His argument was based on the fact that the blond boy could take to cough a few petals, but the coughing fits were something else entirely. And the shocking part was that he blamed Weasley. 

Poor, kind, weasel felt so guilty that he had to ask Draco if he really had a coughing fit after the astronomy tower.

“He started to yell at me; saying that we are all counting you for dead already.  Which isn’t true. . I just wanted for you to cross your first kiss  off your ‘to do’ list. I’m sorry, ferret... I didn’t think about the flowers-” His friend has the most guilty expression on his face. Draco interrupted him.

“Weasel, first of all: you don’t have to apologize. I had an amazing time. Second of all: how the hell did Potter found out about the kiss.” He turned to look at his best friends, both of them doing a gesture indicating that it wasn’t them. Then he turned to look at Weasley again. The redhead had a nervous expression on.

“... I may have told him about it...” The boy was scratching the back of his neck, looking away. Draco sighed and passed his hand over his face in exhaustion.

“Why? ” Weasley shrugged.

“Mione and Harry asked me what did we do the night of the Christmas party... We always tell each other everything and I didn’t know it was a secret. When I told them about the drinking game, it sort of came up.” He heard Pansy snort next to him.

“ Gryffindors”.

Draco told Weasley not to worry, that he would deal with Potter later. 

Ron ended up spending the rest of the train ride with them. He couldn’t blame him, if Potter was on one of his moods... Then he felt sorry for Granger sharing a compartment with the boy.

When they got to the station, Sirius and Mr. Potter were waiting for them with a smile, right next to the Weasleys. The blond boy hugged his best friends goodbye, and walked towards them; he wanted to get back to Grimmauld Place as soon as possible.

They apparated to the house. Potter didn’t say a word to him since they got on the train, his bad mood was evident. 

Draco chose to ignore him, even though the daffodils were like crazy since Weasley told him about their fight. To think that the green eyed boy could be so worried about him, that he argued with his best friend in the whole world... The flowers were thrilled, giving him happy tickles all over.

But then Draco remembered that Potter had been on a mood since the slug club’s party. The most logical explanation was that he was actually mad about something else, and that he chose that moment with Weasley to throw a fit. It wouldn’t be exactly new, the boy always accumulated things that bother him, until he exploded for the most ridiculous one.

Things were awkward at dinner, though. There was too much silence. When Sirius or Mr. Potter asked a question or made a funny comment, the dark haired boy seemed to just look at his food, bored. Draco had enough of it when he saw Potter’s father whisper to the man next to him: ‘Did I say something that made him upset?’. 

“Potter, you are giving us stomach ache with your rudeness. We get that you are mad, now stop it.” The boy glared at him.

“Do they know that you keep putting yourself in danger?” Draco rolled his eyes.

“I’m not.” He said looking at Sirius and Mr. Potter. “Potter here, is just being a big baby.” Then he turned to look at the boy again. “And I tell you what: yell at Weasley one more bloody time, make him feel bad about anything and I will curse you. You have  no right  to blame him for MY decisions. I’m glad he helped me, he is an amazing friend and you are just a twat.” 

He knew that he had gone too far as soon as the words left his mouth. Potter threw his cutlery on the table and got up abruptly, pushing the chair he was sitting on aside in a harshly way. He didn’t even excused himself and went up to his room. Draco sighed, tired. 

“Well... that was something.” His cousin said. 

“Yeah, kid. Care to share?” 

He told them everything about the party, the astronomy tower, and the train. He even told them his theory about Potter being angry about something else and exploding about this stupid thing. Sirius seemed to agree with Draco, that it was weird for him to react like this. Mr. Potter didn’t, though.

“Kid, I was the one who drag him away from you after that fall. He was frantic, screaming bloody murder... I don’t think he is right in getting angry about this, but...” The man looked at him with kind eyes. “Maybe you don’t realize it, but he cares so much about you.” Draco could feel the daffodils moving all over, happy. “And he’ll probably kill me for telling you this, but he was really upset and worried when he heard about your condition.” 

Draco blinked. Potter hadn’t told him anything about the quidditch match. Whenever he asked, the boy would change the subject completely. Something similar happened with Weasley, the redhead would tell his point of view from the events but he deliberately left Potter out of the story. Maybe the green eyed boy asked him not to... He never thought of that. He assumed that Potter’s role while he was at the infirmary had been little. 

Honestly, Draco was just happy to find the boy when he woke up. He was thrilled  to see that the boy was worried enough to cause accidental magic. Now Mr. Potter was telling him that the boy actually had to be dragged away from him after he fell.  Stop moving, you useless flowers.

“Cut him some slack, kid.” Mr Potter said. Then he turned to look at Sirius with a bright smile on his face. “Us Potters tend to be protective of our Black boys.” 

His cousin pale complexion was suddenly red as the Gryffindor flag. The man crossed his arms and looked away.

“You are impossible.”

“I know, it’s part of my charm.” Said Mr. Potter as he leaned a little more close to Sirius.

Draco thought he was dreaming. The words of the man repeating inside of his head.  Us Potters tend to be protective of our Black boys. OUR Black boys. Of course he coughed right there and then. It was too much. The disgusting petals inside of his hand.

“Are you alright, little cousin?” The man asked with a concerned look on his face. Draco vanished the petals and nodded.

“Yes, I’m just going upstairs.” Said as he got up and left the kitchen. He was climbing up the stairs when he heard Mr. Potter’s voice from the kitchen.

“Ten galleons that he is going to talk to Harry.” 

To which his cousin responded:

“That’s a stupid bet, of course he is.”

And Draco hated them a little for knowing him too well.

He knocked on Potter’s door, Sirius’s childhood room. For a moment he didn’t hear anything and thought that maybe he wasn’t going to get a response.

“Come in.” The voice was muffled. When he entered the room, Potter had a pillow over his face. Really, and people said that Draco was a drama queen. The blond boy slammed the door to caught the boy’s attention. The boy took the pillow off his face and glared at him.

“What, Malfoy?”

He did a gesture to ask if he could sit on the bed. Potter mumbled a ‘whatever’ as he moved a little to make more space for him.

“I’m only apologizing for calling you a twat, the rest of it still stands.” The green-eyed boy huffed and looked away.

“That’s a new one.” He said, in that sassy tone that Potter used when he got defensive. Draco rolled his eyes.

“If you want I can just go.” He got up to leave the room but Potter grabbed his arm. It took all him not to cough when he turned to look at those green eyes.

“No, sorry. Stay.” Draco stared at his arm, the boy’s hand was still there. He coughed and Potter let him go; a worried expression on his face. “Sorry. I’ve noticed that if people touch you, sometimes you get coughs... it’s kind of the reason why I fought with Ron.”

Draco was dumbfounded. He looked at him. He paid attention for enough time to know something about him that he hadn’t told anyone. To be fair, his theory wasn’t exactly correct... He only got coughs with such ease if Potter touched him, the boy just thought that it happened with everyone.

The blond boy sat on the bed again. He didn’t know how to explain it without giving himself away, so he chose not to.

“It doesn’t work like that. You shouldn’t have said that stuff to Weasley, you made him upset.” The boy next to him groaned.

“Sorry for caring.” The sassy tone was back. 

“No.” Those green eyes looked at him, confused. “Don’t apologize for caring, Potter. It’s who you are.” He could swear he saw a little blush on the boy’s cheeks, but it was gone so soon that maybe he imagined it. The stupid Hanahaki was always making him see things that weren’t even there.

Potter shifted, trying to be more comfortable while sitting on the bed.

“ I just think that you should be focusing on, you know, this boy.” Draco chuckled at that. Potter didn’t have the slightest clue that he was, basically, asking the blond boy to focus on him.

“How is that going to help? You can’t turn someone. Either he likes boys or he doesn’t.” Potter groaned again, clearly Draco had consumed his patience today.

“Maybe if you do something about it, I don’t know, flirt or whatever; He’ll realize that he actually likes boys. And then you would have a fair shot at this.” The blond boy was looking at him like he was crazy. “I’m not the only one who thinks so! Dad and Padfoot agree with me.” He said as he crossed his arms. 

“And what about you, Potter? Why don’t you follow your own advise and actually make a move on Weasley’s sister.” He knew that he was deliberately changing the subject. The daffodils went from being really happy to really angry rather quickly. He coughed a few times and the petals fell on the floor. The boy next to him took his wand and vanished them.

“It’s different. Ginny is with Dean.” He said in a low voice. Draco snorted.

“She’s been making eyes at you since her first year. I’m sure you’ve noticed. If you blink her way, she’ll come running.” He felt the petals move again and held his breath to stop them from getting out.

The green-eyed boy pushed his hair back and threw himself on the bed, looking at the ceiling. 

“That’s kind of the problem. I’m not sure how I feel about her... She is pretty, fun, smart... I know I like her, I just don’t know how much. And if we dated and then broke up-“ He stoped, and pulled a face of discomfort. Draco sighed.

“This is about the Weasleys, isn’t it?” The boy nodded softly. “You are already part of their family. You’re literally going over there for Christmas Eve... Your relationship with Ginevra is not going to affect that.”

He was pathetic. Helping the love of his life to date someone else, just to make the green-eyed boy happy... It scared him, how much he loved him. He would literally jump off a cliff if it meant to see Potter smile.

The boy looked at him, eyes full of questions. Draco could drown in the green of his eyes, they were so beautiful.

“How did you know?” Potter asked him. Draco looked at him, waiting for him to go on. “That you were in love I mean. What does it feel like?”

Draco raised his eyebrows and took a deep breath. Salazar, he really walked right into that one, didn’t he?

“I don’t know how to explain it. I’ve always loved him, I just didn’t understand what it was until the end of second year, more or less.” The daffodils started to give him tickles, the good kind. He had an amused smile on his face as he turned to look at Potter. “I remember this one time (we were in third year)... I was looking at him, and he was smiling so fucking brightly that I felt dizzy.” He chuckled and continued talking. “I think that the first thing I’ve noticed was that I wanted for him to pay attention to me, all the time.” Potter laughed at that.

“I think that’s just because you like attention, Malfoy.” He said with playful eyes. 

Draco laughed with him. To think that he didn’t have this before, he didn’t have the opportunity to be like this with him. It was in moments like this that he thought: ‘ Who cares about the flowers? He is smiling at me’.


	18. God save the Queen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!! I hope you like this one! I’m sorry that I couldn’t respond to you comments in the last chapter, I was really busy... but I loved reading them!! 
> 
> Enjoy!!
> 
> Ps. Sorry if you find grammatical or vocabulary errors in this one!

Draco corroborated his theory about how all things nice seemed to be at Grimmauld Place, when Sirius gave him all his vinyls for Christmas. 

He honestly couldn’t understand how he lived so long only listening to the Weird Sisters, when something like Led Zeppelin even existed. The muggleborns must’ve think that wizards just had awful taste in music.

There were a lot, Draco couldn’t listen to all of them... He chose what he was going to listen to without even looking at the box, he closed his eyes, took one vinyl out and put it on. Randomly: he found Queen.

It was a Saturday, there were a few more days until New Years. The four of them were drinking some hot chocolate near the fireplace. He asked if it was alright to put some music and everyone agreed. 

Draco got up from the couch and crossed the room to get to the record player. The box was right next to it; the blond boy closed his eyes and chose one. He opened his eyes. ‘Queen. A day at the Races.’ Draco looked at the cover, curious. There were animals surrounding a Q with a crown in the middle. He took out the vinyl and put it on the record player. 

The blond boy also chose the song that he wanted to hear randomly. He would look at the grooves on the vinyl and chose the one he wanted, and it was a rule that he could not look at the titles of the songs. Potter teased him for it, said that he was the most weird person ever; Draco tended to ignore his comments on the matter.

He chose the groove and placed the needle on it. Suddenly, a man’s voice with the sound of a piano filled the room. Mr. Potter gasped.

“Listen to this,Padfoot. I feel sixteen again.” The man said with a bright smile. 

They had been having this moments, Potter and him noticed them (which was a big thing because scarhead never noticed anything). The green-eyed boy looked at them, Draco could swear that he was smiling a little. Mr. Potter stood up and offered his hands at Sirius.

“Dance with me. We haven’t dance in  so long.” 

His cousin widened his eyes and turned to look at the two boys sitting next to him. Draco extended his arm and pushed him off the couch, as Sirius glared at him.

Mr. Potter took his hands; and placed one on his shoulder, while the other kept being intertwined with his. Then, Potter’s father put his other hand on Sirius’s waist. 

Draco could see that his cousin was nervous... Sirius kept looking at Potter, who was still sitting on the couch. The green- eyed boy raised his mug up in the air like saying ‘cheers’ before taking another sip. 

Ooh let me feel your heartbeat (grow faster, faster)  
Ooh ooh can you feel my love heat, ooh  
Come on and sit on my hot-seat of love  
And tell me how do you feel right after-all  
I'd like for you and I to go romancing  
Say the word, your wish is my command 

They started to dance. Given the fact that Potter was a horrible dancer, the blond boy was rather surprised when Mr. Potter began to move his feet marvelously. Sirius followed him, there was this complicity... He could tell that it really wasn’t the first time that they had danced like this. 

Draco loved it all. The smile on both of their faces, how they mouthed the lyrics the whole time... From that day on: he adored listening to Queen.

The following day he discovered ‘ A night at the Opera’ and cried while he listened to ‘Love of my life’. Potter found him out right sobbing on the couch, as he stepped out of the floo, when he returned from the Weasleys. 

“Malfoy...? Do you want me to call someone?” The blond boy shook his head. “You are crying... a lot.” And Draco just snorted, trying to clean his tears with the back of his sleeve.

“It’s just this bloody song.” He took a deep breath and ended up coughing (again), petals falling on his lap (again). “Fuck.” He took his wand and vanished them. He looked at the boy standing in front of him... Potter had a worried face on. Draco sighed. “You asked me what does it feel. It feels like this song, the lyrics, the music... It feels just like this.” He said as a tear coursed down his cheek. 

Potter sat next to him, and rested his head on the back of the couch, looking at him. His eyes were so green, so beautiful. Draco looked away.

“I know I’m pathetic-“

“You are not.” The boy interrupted him. “It’s special. I don’t think that everyone loves like you do. I wish I could love someone that way, someday at least.” He said with a soft smile on his face. 

“Believe me, Potter,you don’t want this.” And he got up before he started to have a coughing fit next to the boy.

————————

Given the fact that Potter had spent Christmas’s Eve with the Weasleys, Ron was spending New Year’s Eve with them. This was really good news, because Draco missed him immensely. 

Weasley arrived to Grimmauld Place on the morning of New Year’s Eve. Mr. Potter must’ve greeted him and guided him to the kitchen, because Sirius and Potter were still sleeping, which wasn’t new, they always slept in. 

Draco was baking a cake, he had asked at the begging of the break if he could be in charge making the desserts for the holidays. ‘Killer Queen’ had just began, when the weasel found him in the kitchen; singing while he cooked.

She keeps her Moet et Chandon  
In her pretty cabinet  
"Let them eat cake", she says  
Just like Marie Antoinette  
A built-in remedy  
For Khrushchev and Kennedy  
At anytime an invitation  
You can't decline

This song always reminded him of Pansy. Since the last days he had listened to Queen non-stop, he almost knew all the lyrics to every song he liked. 

”Extraordinarily nice...  
She's a Killer Queen” Draco sang as he turned around to look for a clean bowl. That’s when he saw Weasley standing there, smug smile on his face. The blond boy put a hand on his chest. “For Salazar’s sake, weasel! Announce yourself, you almost gave me a heart attack.” He hissed.

“Harry told me that you were spending all your time listening to some muggle band, I thought he was having me on.” Draco grabbed the bowl as he responded.

“They are amazing. I only have the albums from before Sirius moved with the Potters; but maybe when Mr. Potter can claim his old house again, I could listen to the rest of them.”

They talked for a while. Ron told him that he wrote to Granger a few times, they still were a little mad with each other but still, it was progress. 

Draco was finishing the cake when Potter and Sirius entered the kitchen. Tired and narrowed green eyes were looking at them. Potter was still on his pajamas, his hair was more of a mess than usual. He heard him mumble something like ‘coffee’ as he sat in front of Ron. He clearly wasn’t a morning person, Draco huffed.

“First you should say hi, Potter, that’s your best friend.” Said the blond boy as he passed him and Sirius their mugs and the jar of coffee.

Sirius poured himself some coffee and asked were Kreacher was. Draco explained to him that he needed the kitchen so he was probably cleaning upstairs. 

“Isn’t a little too early to be listening to this?” Potter said and the blond boy snorted.

“It’s eleven a.m, Potty.”

——————-

Remus came to have dinner with them too. They spent the entire time laughing, The Marauders told them some of the pranks that they did at school, and even though Draco already had heard some of them, he enjoyed listening.

Potter seemed happy and that was enough to make him feel happy too. The daffodils were making him ticklish, but in a good way, which was a relief because he was fucking tired of coughing petals.

They got to that awkward conversation about Draco’s situation, because Remus knew little about it. The blond boy was hoping they would stop talking; this days, it seemed like it was the only thing he talked about. The questions were always the same ones.  ‘How can you be sure?’ ‘Does he know?’ ‘Is he from school?’  He was half listening to the conversation when Weasley spoke to him.

“What about Parkinson’s comment the other day?” They looked at Draco, expecting an answer. He arched his eyebrow.

“What comment, weasel?” His friend pulled a smug smile.

“The one about your Prince Charming, ferret.” The blond boy tried to fight the blush on his cheeks. If Mr. Potter or Sirius saw him like this they would tease infinitely. He rolled his eyes in annoyance.

“Are you blushing, little cousin?” The man asked in an amused voice. Then, he looked at Ron and Potter. “Who is it??”

Potter crossed his arms and huffed before answering.

“It’s no one. Ron is just being an idiot.” 

“Are you kidding me?? You thought it was Blaise! My theory makes much more sense.” 

Draco frowned at that. Theory? Oh for fuck’s sake. He groaned at his friend.

“Is this what you write in that stupid notebook? Candidates?” 

He was so mad he could curse him. He didn’t need to be fucking saved by anyone.

“Well, yeah, you won’t tell us and I want to help. Sue me.” The redhead responded. 

“We are still waiting to know who this Prince Charming is.” Said Remus as he ate a piece of the cake that Draco baked.

“Ron is talking about Nott but I think it’s bullshit.” Said Potter in an annoyed tone. Sirius raised his eyebrows and Mr. Potter smiled.

“The one that woke you up!” Said Potter’s father and Draco passed his hands over his face; tired.

“It’s like no one listens to me.  He didn’t do anything to wake me up, I just did .” And then he turned to look at Weasley. “It’s not fucking Theodore! I don’t even know why you thought of that.”

“See??” Said Potter. “Cross him off that stupid list.” 

But Weasley didn’t drop the subject.

“For a bunch of reasons!” And Draco wished to die when the weasel started to list them. “You are close to him, you defend him; I’m sorry but if he didn’t do anything and you woke up that just proves my point, and also...” He saw the doubt in Weasley’s eyes. Draco new he wouldn’t like to hear the rest. “Well, you did put him on your list with the highest score (10/10)... and you wrote straight and then put questions marks right next to it.”

His face was on fire. He wanted to kill Weasley right there. This was probably the most embarrassing moment of his life. The Marauders were looking at him, trying to restrain their amused smiles, because they saw that the blond boy was angry. Weasley was still looking at him, waiting for him to answer. Draco looked at Potter just for a moment; the green-eyed boy was looking at him, disappointed. 

The daffodils got upset really fast and Draco couldn’t contain the coughs. He covered his mouth with his hand to prevent the petals from falling on the table. He vanished the daffodils and looked up. Now, Potter had this disgusted pained look on his eyes.

“Bloody hell, I’m right! It’s Nott!” Said Weasley, with a triumphant laugh. Draco was about to call him a clueless idiot, but Potter spoke first.”

“How is that a good thing? Are you stupid?” The green-eyed boy was livid. Then he turned to look at Draco. “What the fuck do you see in him?” And he just couldn’t find the words, his emotions were too mixed up... He was angry at Ron, amused by his stupid theory, happy that Potter defended him. The flowers were like crazy; he couldn’t stop them, he coughed again.

Potter excused himself and left the room. Weasley sighed.

“Don’t worry, ferret. We are going to help you with this. He’ll come around.”

He just kept looking at the door... worried. Then, he heard Remus talk.

“I think you might have a chance with this. I remember you two being the little terrors on my class, partners in crime.” Then he turned to look at Sirius and Mr. Potter. “They reminded me a little bit of you two... but in a Slytherin version.”

Draco couldn’t understand how everyone had come to the wrong conclusion.


	19. The charade.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!! I hope you like this one!! Tell me in the comments what you thought! It’s so fun to read them 💕
> 
> Ps. I’ve checked but sorry if you find any errors in this one (grammar or vocabulary)

The firsts weeks back at Hogwarts were difficult. Potter had adopted this attitude with him that Draco did not like. 

He nearly hadn’t talked to the green-eyed boy since New Year’s Eve. Potter only spoke to him if necessary, and would (deliberately) find excuses to not spend time with the Golden Trio if the Slytherins were there. 

He found himself in a dilemma. If he told the truth, Potter would talk to him again (which was a good thing), but strategically speaking... Weasley thinking that Draco was in love with Theo was the best thing that could ever happen to him. The redhead had stopped writing in that stupid notebook and if Draco didn’t keep up the charade, he was bound to start his little investigation again.

Draco had to admit that Theodore was the most logical choice to explain the Hanahaki. If he denied Weasley’s theory, eventually his friend would put two and two together and Draco’s life would be over. Well... He was already dying, but at least he could die with dignity.

He didn’t have a chance with Potter; his only comfort was being close to him, in the way he had been this last couple of months. And Weasley said that he would come around eventually... So Draco just went with it.

He always had this thing for Theo. It was really insignificant compared to what he felt for Potter, but it was there. He just really hated to admit it. The blond boy always thought that the brunette was beautiful, Pansy even used to tease him for staring from time to time. 

There was also something about the way he treated Draco... and no, he didn’t mean when somebody was watching them, because Theo would get really defensive and say stupid shit all the time. He meant the way he was when they were alone, the gifts he gave to him on his birthday when everyone was sleep, the way that he would crawl into Draco’s bed when he had a nightmare, and things like what he did for him at the hospital... Looking for solutions, breaking rules just to see him safe; even if they were in this limbo of friendship right now.

Draco always had his doubts with Theo. What he said on the Hogsmade weekend was true: homophobic bastards tended to be just scare little boys still in the closet. The brunette made really clear ,everyday, that he was disgusted by homosexuality and he only liked girls. But then, he would treat him like that... he didn’t care if Draco hugged him in his sleep and honestly, he just couldn’t understand how someone that homophobic could be so comfortable with the affection of his gay best friend. This were all the his reasons to put him on the list with the question marks; he truly didn’t know.

Weeks turned into a month and a half and Valentine’s Day was here. Potter was still avoiding him. He didn’t treat him badly if he saw him, but... Draco noticed the difference with before; he didn’t smile warmly at him anymore and he didn’t reach out to him if he had a problem, not even to talk about Ginevra. The blond boy couldn’t understand how he got to a moment of his life where he wished that scarhead would tell him about his stupid crush on Weasley’s sister.

He was with the weasel outside, the disgusting lovey-dovey thing that was happening on the Great Hall was just too much. 

“Are you sending him something?” The redhead asked curiously. He looked at him like he had lost his mind. “I just think that maybe you could approach him anonymously, at least.” Draco snorted.

“He would know it’s me.” And that just put a smug smile on Weasley’s face.

“Yes, because you have this weird connection that only you two can understand.” 

And Draco almost cried because that applied to Potter as well. He coughed a few times right next to Weasley.

—————

Ron’s birthday came and Draco looked like shit. His coughs were more regular because Potter was putting this distance between them. 

He checked himself on the mirror one last time. The make up almost covered the dark circles around his eyes, he still looked kind of tired but he could say that he had stayed studying the night before. He grabbed Weasley’s present and went to meet everyone at the Great Hall. 

Blaise and Pansy were already at the Gryffindor table with the Golden Trio and some of the other Gryffindors. It was kind of bizarre to see them with green ties in a sea of Red and golden.

He walked to where they were, and sat right between Weasley and Potter. He knew it was a desperate thing to do, but he couldn’t help it; the daffodils were moving inside of him, begging him to be close to the boy. He could feel Potter shifting in his seat, uncomfortable.  I’m sorry, I know you don’t want me around but I think I might just die if we keep this up.

He put the little box in front of Weasley. The redhead smiled at him as he opened it, then, he stared at it confused.

“This is a necklace, ferret.” Draco snorted.

“How observant, weasel.” 

Then he heard Hermione hissing at the redhead.

“Ronald! Don’t be ungrateful! Say thank you.” And the poor weasel was looking at him, trying to lie and thank him for the jewelry but he couldn’t. Draco laughed and showed him the little note inside the box. Weasley started to read it.

Happy Birthday, weasel.  
The necklace has a drop of my blood inside of it (yes, I know it’s gross).  
For whatever shit that you and the other two idiots are planning... I wanted to have a way of knowing that you were alive.  
-Ferret.

Suddenly Ron was pulling him into a bone crushing hug, Draco widened his eyes before returning the hug.

“This is brilliant. Thank you.” Then he let the blond boy, to put on the necklace and hide it inside his shirt. Draco smiled.

Pansy and Blaise already knew what it was, but the rest of the Gryffindors were all asking about the gift. Weasley said that it was confidential and as the birthday boy he was demanding the subject to be dropped entirely, so they could enjoy the rest of the breakfast. After all, this was the only moment in the day where the Slytherins could be there since they didn’t share classes on Mondays. 

Potter didn’t talk to him, not even once. Draco thought that being Weasley’s birthday he would be a little kinder but the boy seemed to be even more distant with him. He was almost getting used to the awful feeling inside of his lungs, to the petals burning them constantly. He just wished he didn’t have to. 

————————-

The next day, Draco was called by Severus to his office. He thought that maybe it was his weekly report on his mother... He couldn’t have been any more wrong.

“The Weasley boy is unconscious at the infirmary. Apparently last night he drank something that was poisoned. I’m giving you the first two periods to visit him. I’ll ask Miss Parkinson and Mister Zabini to take notes for you.”

Draco just stood there. Trying to process what Severus just told him.

“Is he alright...? I mean-“ He asked in a strangled voice.

“He is stable. He was with Potter and Professor Slughorn. Horace says that Harry gave him a bezoar right on time, honestly I’m shocked that Potter even knows what a bezoar is.”

Draco glared at his godfather.

“It’s first year level, Severus. He is not stupid.” The man didn’t even raise his eyes from what he was writing.

“Yes, Draco. I’ll be careful not to insult our savior in front of you.” Draco rolled his eyes and exited the office. 

When he got to the infirmary, Potter and Granger were the only ones there, right next to Weasley’s bed. The boy had his eyes closed, if Draco forgot about the bad news, he could imagine that the redhead was just sleeping.

He got closer to look at him. Poor Weasley, on his birthday of all things. 

“You can thank your one true love for this.” Potter hissed behind him. Granger reacted faster than Draco, the only thing he could do was coughed because of the boy’s tone.

“Don’t, Harry. This wasn’t Draco’s fault.” Then, the dark-haired boy went from not talking to him, to yell at him, really fast.

“I don’t even have doubts that he was the one who poisoned the Mead. It was a present for Dumbledore, you know?” His green eyes were livid, he was so angry with him. The petals were hurting the blond boy, and he couldn’t help but to cough again. That only seemed to make things worst. “Nott is trying to murder a person, Ron got poisoned in the process and what do you do?? You just cough those fucking flowers.”

The tears started to form on Draco’s eyes. The air was not getting in. Potter always thought that the Hanahaki was a poetic thing, something that spoke deeply about the blond boy’s love. Now, he was looking at him like he was disgusted of the petals that fell from his mouth. 

He couldn’t speak. His lungs were burning, the familiar feeling of the daffodils cutting the walls that were keeping them in. He tried to breath but it was impossible. 

And he didn’t want to be a burden to Potter. He knew that this was the most ridiculous disease ever, that nobody needed him coughing all over the place. He knew that the petals were ugly when they were covered with his blood. Draco was extremely aware of it all and he didn’t need the love of his life saying that he found him disgusting. 

The tears were flowing from his eyes he didn’t know if they were from sadness or from the incredible pain he was experiencing. Draco turned around and coughed his way out of the hospital wing, trying to find somewhere where he could have the bloody coughing fit in peace.

He didn’t get too far, just the nearest bathroom, and soon enough Granger appeared. She casted some privacy spells around them, before sitting with him on the floor. Draco was surprise that she didn’t even care that this was the boys’ bathroom.

She waited for the blond boy to stop coughing; maybe between the coughs, she would vanish the petals that were lying on the floor. 

“Are you better? Do you need your potions?” Draco shook his head, he hated those, they made him nauseous. 

“I’m okay.” His voice came out rough. “You can go back to Ron, Granger.”

“Hermione.” The girl answered. “I call you Draco, you should call me by my name too.”

He understood why Weasley loved her. She was passionate about things and about the people she cared about... It was amazing that the blond boy was now one of those people.

“I’m sorry.” The girl looked at him with confused eyes. “For calling you that word. I’m sorry.” He said in a low voice.

Then, the girl smiled at him, kind eyes on her face.

“I don’t care anymore, Draco... But thank you for apologizing, I appreciate it.” He did a short nod and looked away. 

They kept sitting there in silence for a while until the girl spoke again.

“I’m sure Ron already told you... But sometimes Harry just gets like this. I know it’s hard to see it now because you two are fighting, but really, you shouldn’t feel responsible for his own anger: that’s on him.” Draco looked at her curious, waiting for her to keep talking. “In third year Sirius sent him a Firebolt and we didn’t know that he was innocent yet. I was worried so I gave the broom to McGonagall... I think we didn’t talk for like two months or so. Maybe more, I don’t even want to remember.” Draco chuckled until he saw the girl’s face.

“You are not kidding...”

“No.” Draco snorted.

“What a prat, Merlin.” This time it was Hermione the one who laughed.

“Indeed.” She said as he looked at him. “So, believe us when we say that this will pass.”

Draco could only nod again.

————————

He was having an internal debate about if he should confront Theodore or not. He  had  been acting really weird this couple of weeks and Draco just couldn’t forget what Potter had said.

He checked if the rest of the boys were sleep before going to the brunette’s bed. Draco opened the curtains to let himself in and shut them quickly behind him.

“What do you think you are doing?” The boy hissed as he took his wand to cast a muffliato. Draco only glared at him.

“Was it you?”

“I don’t even know what you are talking about, Malfoy.” The blond boy grabbed his arm to get his attention.

“Don’t do that. I asked you a question, Theodore.”

The hazel eyed boy looked at him, intensely; eyes full of mixed emotions. He removed his arm from Draco’s grip and slowly began to roll up his sleeve.

And there it was. The dark mark clashed with his white skin. Theodore’s arm looked corrupted and Draco wanted to cry from the impotence he felt. He looked at the hazel-eyed again.

“ Why would you do this to yourself? Don’t you see? The Dark Lord is going to loose in the long run, and you are going to live the life that our fathers lived. Your children will be called the same disgusting things that they called us.” 

He knew that Theo would be get angry but he didn’t care. He needed to understand.

“Not everyone can just runaway like you or your precious cousin. It’s just my father and me, what was I supposed to do?” And Draco lost his cool at that.

“ Maybe you could try not to poison my friend in a lousy attempt to kill the headmaster.” He took a deep breath before continuing. “Do you realize that killing someone is going to change you forever? You will remember it for the rest of your life. Its’s not a fucking game, Theo.”

And that just made him really angry.

“I sure fucking hope that Potter remembers for the rest of his life that he killed you, so yes. I’m fucking aware of what is going to happen, Draco.” 

The tears started to form in his eyes.

“Don’t fucking blame him for this.”

“Why the fuck not? I hate him. He doesn’t even deserves half of what you have done for him.” The boy hissed.

“He doesn’t know. No one does.” Theo looked confused, he raised one eyebrow.

“Who do they think it is?” Draco looked away, uncomfortable. He didn’t know how the brunette would react.

“You.” He said in a low voice.

There was a moment of silence, the blond boy was too scare of looking at him. Then he heard Theodore’s laughter.

“My my, how the tables have turn. Let me guess, he is fucking pissed about it.” The hazel-eyed boy asked with a smirk. Draco blushed and rolled his eyes.

“We were talking about something that’s actually important, Theodore.”

And the boy just looked at him with pained eyes.

“There is little that I wouldn’t do for you.” The boy sighed and laid on his bed. “Sadly, this is one of them.”

Draco felt so fucking sad, he knew that Theodore would regret this. He felt the brunette grabbing his hand, guiding him to lie next to him. The blond boy followed and put his head on the pillow, looking at him.

“I’m sorry about Weasley. He seems decent, makes you laugh.” Draco nodded and smiled at him. 

They stayed in silence for a while. Theodore rolled down his sleeve and then he said:

“Can we forget about this shit just for a while?... I missed this.”

And how could Draco say no to him? His hazel eyes looking right at him, begging for at least some peace in the middle of this martyrdom...

“Yes. Now shut up and let me sleep, Theo.” 

—————

The next morning, when Draco gather all his courage to go see Ron at the infirmary, he was already awake and beaming when the blond boy crossed the door. Potter and Granger were beside him, like the day before. The Gryffindor girl looked quite happy too... Potter on the other hand looked even angrier than the day before.

He walked towards them, smiling at Weasley.

“It’s good to see you awake. How are you feeling?” He asked.

“Oh, Who cares?? I mean I’m fine. But how are  you  feeling?” The redhead answered with an excited face. Draco frowned.

“Ron, shut the hell up.” Potter hissed at him, and the weasel rolled his eyes.

“What?  I’m just asking.”

“I don’t think I’m following, weasel. You are the one at the hospital-“ But his friend interrupted him.

“But you spent the night with Nott!” 

Draco blushed instantly, frowning at Weasley. Then, he turned to look at the rest of the golden trio; Potter was glaring at Ron and Hermione was looking at him, waiting for an answer. He stuttered a response.

“Ho-How the fuck do you know that?? And I- It wasn’t like that, I just was talking with him about something and fell sleep.” 

“After he put Ron in the fucking hospital?” Potter hissed at him. He fought to keep the petals down. 

“You have no proof of that, Oh Chosen One. Besides: it’s my life. I don’t know how the hell you spied on me, but back off. You can’t ignore my existence and then do this shit.” The green-eyed boy crossed his arms and lowered his gaze to the floor as he responded.

“Zabini told us. He was here before you got here.” The blond boy snorted.

He even had the audacity of lying to him. Did he think that Draco was stupid? 

“You might try to lie to me a little better, Potty. Blaise had never batted an eyelash about me spending the night with Theodore. And he would most definitely not tell you about it, after the way you been treating me lately.”

The dark-haired boy was staring at him, dumbfounded. His eyes were a little angry, maybe he was pissed off about Draco catching him in his lies. Then he turned to look at the other two thirds of the Golden Trio.

“So? Is somebody going to tell me the truth?” He asked in annoyance. The three of them kept silent. “Fine, whatever.” 

And he left the infirmary, fucking livid.


	20. The curse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I hope you like this one! Tell me what you thought in the comments✨
> 
> Ps. I’ve checked but sorry if you find any errors in this one (grammar or vocabulary)

He tried to warn Severus about Theodore. The man just said that he was fully aware about the situation but  the boy was still at school, so he was starting to doubt that his godfather had informed the Headmaster at all. That’s how Draco found himself asking for a meeting with Dumbledore on Friday.

He spoke the password that professor McGonagall informed him and entered the office. When he got in, the old man was sitting on his desk, drinking a cup of tea. 

Dumbledore looked more and more thin as the year went by, the blond boy thought that it was not a good look on him. He looked sick.

“Mr. Malfoy. How are you, boy?”

Draco wanted to cut directly to the point, formalities be damn.

“Good. Thank you, sir. I came here with information. I think that one of the Slytherins is-“ The man interrupted.

“If you are talking about your friend Theodore Nott, I’m aware of the situation. Severus told me.”

Draco felt like a weight had been lifted. He thought, for a second, that Severus was a lying bastard. He wasn’t ,though. Still a spy. Good.

“Then expel him, Headmaster. Before he does something that he’ll regret. I beg you.”

The old man looked at him with kind eyes and a soft smile. He fixed his glasses before talking.

“I don’t think that’s an option, Mr. Malfoy. My duty is to care about all the students, even the ones that make the wrong choices.” Draco was looking at him like he had lost his mind. Was this man senile?? “If I expel him, and he fails on his mission, he would, at the least, face torture; I don’t think that’s fair for a sixteen year old, don’t you agree?” Dumbledore said as he took another sip of his tea. “However, since you are close to him... let him know that we can provide shelter for him, that he has options. I would appreciate it very much.”

Draco only nodded before being dismissed by the Headmaster, telling him to get back to class. What the fuck?

It was ridiculous. 

‘Yes, come to Hogwarts. It’s the safest place in the entire magical world. We only hired followers of the Dark Lord accidentally a couple of times, no biggie... And yes, we did also have a three hundred year old monster inside of a hidden secret chamber under the school, that also happened to kill the students ( no, nobody asked Salazar Slytherin why the fucking pipes were so ridiculously big). There was also that time when the dementors almost killed a student in a quidditch match... And let’s not forget about last year, when someone from the ministry used a blood quill as punishment. Which brings us to this moment; yes, we are aware that we currently have a sixteen year old Death Eater inside of the castle, thank you for asking.’

Draco was glad that he was going to die before having kids because, if he were a parent, he would most likely set the school on fire if they got to live one of the things that Potter had to endure in the last six years of his life.

And now he was thinking about Potter again. Fuck. Draco sighed as he walked to class again. 

He really wished that Theo would listen to him. Or Dumbledore. Or Severus. ANYONE.

————————

He wasn’t talking to Potter. Actually, he wasn’t talking to the Golden Trio in general because they refused to tell him the truth. 

Draco looked worst everyday. Pansy and Blaise tried to make him talk to the three Gryffindors; saying that he didn’t need to fight with people right now, he needed friends. The blond boy ignored them. What he needed was to find a way of convincing Theodore of stopping whatever plan he had in mind.

Unfortunately, the boy was avoiding him. He sealed his curtains at night, to prevent Draco from climbing into the bed; and disappeared after classes. The blond boy couldn’t approach him like this.

He was so tired, it was almost Easter Holidays and everything was the same. Draco was alone, the coughs were getting worst... He felt the physical need to be close to Potter everywhere, every fiber of his being was begging him to fix this. He ignored the feeling daily.

The blond boy knew that he was pushing everyone away, but the bloody adults in charge of the fucking school were just letting things flow. It was his responsibility now. He just had to find a way of stopping this.

He had just finished Charms, when he decided to take the long way back to the dungeons, he wanted some quiet... at least for a while. 

The hallway from the second floor was, almost always, desolated. Nobody went there because of Myrtle. That’s why he was surprised to hear the girl-ghost talking with someone that day.

“Do you want me to get help?” She asked in a low voice.

The water from the tap was running, Draco could hear it flowing the bathroom.

“No... I just need to be alone for a minute.” 

Draco knew that voice. Theodore sounded strangled, like he had been crying. He quietly entered the bathroom.

The boy was sitting on the floor, robes all drenched. His hair was a mess, eyes red with his wand on his hand. Hazel eyes were looking at him, scared. ’One bad move and this could all go to shit, this is your chance, Draco. Take it.’

He walked slowly to were the boy was and knelt in front of him, looking at him with kind eyes.

“This is what I was trying to tell you, Theo. You don’t want to do this.”

Tears were starting to course down the boy’s cheeks, as he looked away.

“It’s too late. I don’t have a choice.” His voice came out weak. Draco got a little closer to him, pushed the hair away from his face. He could swear that Theo leaned in to the touch for a moment.

“You do. Dumbledore knows.” The boy widened his eyes, alarmed. “He knows, and he is letting you try this because he fears that if he expels you right now, you could get hurt by them.” Then, the blond boy looked at Theodore with determination. “He is offering you shelter, if you want it. Take it, Theo. I beg you.”

The brunette snorted, rolling up his sleeve.

“This will not go away with shelter, it’s a biding contract.” 

“I knew it.” 

Draco froze. That voice. Shit, not now! He was so close! He looked up and saw Potter looking at them. The green eyes shifted between hate and disappointment. The daffodils were starting to hurt him. 

“You acted like I was crazy but you knew, didn’t you??” The dark-haired hissed at him.

“Yes. But Potter I’m trying to-“

“You are helping him! Look what he is. “ he said with a severe tone. Draco couldn’t contain the coughs anymore, petals were falling from his mouth. 

Theo pointed his wand at the boy that stood in front of him. 

“Back the hell off, Potter.”

The dark haired boy pointed his wand right back at him, and Draco wanted to just stop coughing so he could do something about this.

Theo fired the first spell, obviously. They were wrecking the bathroom. They weren’t listening to him. Draco felt so impotent as he saw everything happen. 

“Cruc-“ Started to cast the hazel-eyed boy. Draco screamed as loud as he could. 

“DON’T!”

And at the same time: Potter threw another spell at his opponent.

“Sectumsempra.” 

Draco didn’t know what it was when he heard it, but he quickly discovered that the spell was actually a curse.

Theo fell to the ground so fast, his white shirt starting to turn red from the blood. He ran and threw himself on the floor next to the boy. The blond boy could hear Myrtle going to get help. 

“Shh, Theo. It’s okay. Somebody is coming.” He kept saying as he held the boy. The hazel eyes looked at him, lost. He couldn’t contain the tears, the petals escaped between sobs.  ‘How could he have done this? It’s Potter. He is a good person. Why would he hurt someone like this. I just-‘ 

“Malfoy... I-“ He glared at the boy, who was looking at him with fearful green eyes, holding his wand tightly.

“Get the hell out of my sight.” He hissed at him. 

The boy had started to turn around when Severus entered the bathroom. Confused eyes on his face, looking between Potter and him.

He knelt next to the boy on the floor and began to cast the counter-curse. 

Draco held Theo the whole time.

——————-

He was at the infirmary, lying in the bed next to Theodore. He had asked Severus to spend the night, and because he saw him really upset, his godfather allowed it. 

The boy was still unconscious. Draco was looking at him, trying to fall sleep... But the scene from the bathroom kept repeating in his head. He shouldn’t have approached Theo, if he hadn’t, then maybe this wouldn’t have happened.

He heard soft sound of steps, when Draco turned around to look, he couldn’t hear them anymore.He narrowed his eyes.

“Potter.” He called. At first, nothing happened; then the boy appeared next to him, taking off his invisibility cloak.

“Hi.” The green-eyed said with a weak voice.

“What do you want? Are you going to actually kill him now?” He spoke with venom in his voice. The daffodils were burning him. Draco couldn’t even look at him.

“I just... I didn’t know what the spell did.” Potter said in a low voice. 

Draco turned to look at him, furious. That was the great excuse? Really? He was suppose to believe that? He snorted.

“Get out.” The blond boy was so mad. He didn’t even cared when he started to have a coughing fit while Potter walked away.

—————————

“Draco, the Golden Trio is outside.”

He was sitting on the couch at the Slytherin common room, revising his notes from transfiguration. He didn’t even looked up at Pansy.

“Then tell them to leave, they are going to miss the train.” He heard his best friend sighed before walking outside. She wasn’t gone for long.

“They are being extremely insistent.”

Draco pushed his books aside and started to walk towards the door. When he got outside, the Gryffindors were looking at him with hesitant eyes.

“What do you want?” Potter was the first to respond.

“We have to leave. Where is your luggage?” He asked with confused eyes. Draco crossed his arms.

“Next to my bed. I’m staying here.” He spoke with a flat voice. The fucking flowers started to move aggressively, hurting him. 

He could see the Weasley and Granger looking at their best friend; worried. Potter was staring at him, hurt eyes on his face.

“You didn’t tell Dad or Padfoot. They are expecting you. Come on, just-” Draco just shrugged.

“I’ll send a Patronus. Anything else?”

Since they didn’t answer, the blond boy wished them a ‘Happy Easter’ and went back inside to his common room.


	21. Unconditionally

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!! So here is the new chapter, I really hope you like this one✨✨✨ Let me know what you thought! 
> 
> Ps. I’ve checked but I apologize if you find any errors in this one (grammar or vocabulary)

Harry slept during the entire train ride. Maybe he was half-sleep/half-listening to the conversation that his friends were having. 

He already knew that they were mad at him, since New Year’s Eve everything had been kind of awkward between them. In his opinion, they were being too understanding and chill about the whole ‘Nott’ thing. He guessed that they didn’t understand how Malfoy loved either. Harry did, though. That was the whole problem.

His love was unconditional. That was it. ’Yes, well, everyone loves unconditionally.’ No, they fucking don’t. Most of the people love someone for some qualities and despite others, they didn’t love the whole package. Malfoy loved ‘his person’ in every way, there was nothing that could make him not love this boy. 

Harry actually had asked, in a desperate attempt of curing Malfoy by trying to get him to fall out of love. He remembered the conversation very clearly.

They were by the fireplace, sitting on the carpet to be closer to the fire, while they drank some hot chocolate that his Dad had made for them. Malfoy’s skin seemed to be even more luminous because of the firelight. 

“What about if you see him kissing someone else? Someone you don’t even like?” He said after taking a sip of his chocolate.

“Nope.” The blond boy smirked. “You should just give up, Potty.” He shook his head.

“No. There’s gotta be something.” 

He thought about it for a while before he continued talking.

“What about if he used the unforgivables?” Draco narrowed his eyes.

“Which one?” Harry was thrilled. At least there is something. He shrugged.

“All of them.” 

Malfoy took a sip from his chocolate, grabbing the mug with both of his hands, while he was covered with a blanket. Harry couldn’t understand how he ever considered him someone dangerous or intimidating...

“I would still love him.” He said in a low voice, looking at he fire. “I don’t believe he would kill, torture or manipulate for fun... I’m sure he is capable of it, if the situation demanded it, but if he had a reason...” 

“You could be with someone capable of that?” Harry asked, confused. Then Malfoy smiled softly at him.

“We are all capable of that. We just pretend that only the bad guys can do it.” He shifted in his place. “The bad guys do it for fun. That’s the difference.” Harry just kept silent, waiting for him to go on. “Take my mother for example: I’m sure she must’ve casted (at least) one of them in her life, but it doesn’t define her. Now take my Aunt Bella and her whole personality is being cruel, she enjoys causing pain. She is a psychopath.”

Harry nodded at that. Bellatrix Lestrange made him feel sick. He couldn’t help but to remember the night in the department of mysteries. If Malfoy wouldn’t have been there... The green light passing right by them. He looked again at the boy.

“So the only thing that could make you stop loving him, would be if he turned into a murderous lunatic like your Aunt.” And Malfoy stared at him then. Curious grey eyes looking for something. 

“I’m not sure if I could ever stop loving him, even then. Maybe the feelings would be different... I don’t know if they could ever go away completely.”

And that just meant that Malfoy loved, really, without any conditions. There wasn’t even one thing in the world that could change his mind. So, it was understandable that he was more than worried about this person being fucking Nott.

And now that Harry’s suspicions were confirmed, it was even worst. The blond boy knew that Nott was a death eater and still, he just kept on covering for him, defending him...

He felt a pull on his stomach, and shifted in his seat, eyes still close. 

“I knew that the book was dangerous. You two never listen to me.” He heard Hermione say.

“I know. I’m sorry.” Ron kept quiet for a moment. “I’ve never saw him so indifferent to us, not even when we didn’t get along... And he is choosing not to go to Grimmauld! He loves that place.” He heard his best friend make a little pained noise. Maybe Hermione pinched him.

“Honestly, Ronald. Nott left the hospital just yesterday. Of course Draco is choosing to stay.”

Maybe that was the reason. It made Harry feel a little less awful about the blond boy not coming with them. But he still couldn’t shake the feeling that this was because Malfoy didn’t want to be around him, not even at Grimmauld...

Hermione woke him up when they got to the station. He fixed his glasses and grabbed his things before following them.

Dad was waiting for him next to the Weasleys, smiling at him. Padfoot was nowhere to be found. Ron and him walked to where they were... Hermione had already said goodbye to them before going with her parents.

He saw his father frown and look a little beyond them. Great, Malfoy didn’t send the Patronus.

“Where is the kid?” He asked confused. Harry wanted to go back to the bloody school and drag him against his will. He knew this would happen.

“Long story. I just want to go home.” He said in a low voice. 

They said goodbye to the Weasleys and his dad apparated them at Grimmauld Place.

When they got in, Padfoot came to greet them, and frowned when he only found Harry with his father. He didn’t ask, though. It was better that way.

He said that he was feeling really tired and excused himself to his room. 

——————-

He was lying in his bed, passing his wand between his fingers; debating with himself whether he should send a Patronus to Malfoy or not.

What would he say? ‘Hey, Malfoy. I know you hate me right now, but can you please not be a prick to dad and Padfoot? Thanks’

He heard a soft knock on the door. 

“Come in.” His father entered the room, and sat on the end of the bed, looking at him.

“Ready for that long story?” He asked in a kind voice.

Harry didn’t want to tell him. It was awful. His father being here was so recent... what if he saw this part of him and decided that he didn’t like that? Padfoot was a little more used to him not being perfect. 

He knew he had to, though. The green-eyed boy didn’t know for how long Malfoy was going to keep avoiding him, and his father and Padfoot deserve to know why.

“Do you love me?” Harry asked, voice trembling. His father frowned at that.

“Of course.” That was not enough. He needed to know.

“Unconditionally?” He felt tears starting to form in his eyes. “Like... If I told you that I’ve done something awful...” He didn’t want to cry, but he was just so tired of this. “Would that be a condition for the way you love me?” 

His dad laid in the bed beside him and guided him to rest on his chest. Harry started to stain with tears the shirt of his father.

“Unconditionally. And Padfoot too, in case you were wondering. You could kill someone and we would probably help you hide the body.” Harry let out a soft chuckle. “You can tell me anything. Always. Nothing is going to make me love you any less.”

He took a deep breath before he began with the story.

“I cursed Nott.” He said in a low voice. “Malfoy and I were already distant since New Year’s Eve.. From my part mostly.” He heard his father mumble an ‘okay..’ and he kept on with the story. “Then, Ron got poisoned on his birthday. I was sure that it was Nott who poisoned the mead and-“ He pushed his hair away from his face. “I may have told that to Malfoy in a mean way. He started to have a coughing fit, didn’t even respond.”

He looked at his father, he wanted to make sure that he was not mad. At least for now. 

“Then... I saw him on the map, that night, sleeping with Nott.” His father widened his eyes, hopeful. Harry shook his head. “Not like that, at least that was what he said. Ron asked him about it. Malfoy was pissed that we were spying on him... He asked how did we know and nobody told him about the map, so he didn’t spoke to us since.”

“I thought you said you cursed Theodore.” Harry nodded.

“Found them in Myrtle’s bathroom last week, Nott was crying showing off his dark mark, and Malfoy was consoling him.” The tears kept coming out of his eyes. “I was just so angry, he lied to my face about it, you know? And then Nott was telling me to back off. I didn’t. We ended up dueling.” His father nodded, waiting for him to go on. “Nott started to cast the cruciatus curse on me. Malfoy yelled at him, to stop him, but I already had fired another spell. I didn’t know what it was, I swear. I found it in a book as a note that read ‘for enemies’. It was a cutting curse, Nott almost died.” 

The tears just kept flowing from his eyes. He couldn’t forget Malfoy’s look after that, livid, disappointed. 

’Get the hell out of my sight’.

‘What do you want? Are you going to actually kill him now?’

‘Get out.’

Harry felt like it was so unfair . This was the first time he did something like this. It was an accident. He didn’t even began the fight! And now the blond boy was so mad, that he didn’t even told him that he wouldn’t be coming back to Grimmauld Place. 

He hated it, all of it. He wanted to scream at Malfoy that he was being a prick. Nott wasn’t the only person in the world with pressures or family that he cared about. Why was he forgiving him for trying the cruciatus, but not speaking to Harry for the Sectumsempra? But he knew the answer to that question: Malfoy cared about him with conditions, while he loved Nott unconditionally. Nott didn’t fucking deserve it. 

“Padfoot told you about what happened in our fifth year?” His father asked in a kind voice. Harry nodded.

“ When Snape followed you on the full moon.” 

“Yes. Moony could have killed him, If I hadn’t got there on time, I mean.” His father took a deep breath. “That was one of the few fights that I had with Padfoot in my life. Ask him, I didn’t talk to him for three full moons.” 

Harry widened his eyes, shocked.

“Yes, i don’t know how I managed either. I suppose I was really angry, disappointed of him.” His dad caressed the green-eyed boy’s back while he kept talking. “You see, I thought that Padfoot was the most perfect person ever. You know how many times he fought with his mother so she would let him come see me on the summers? Tons. He even used to jinx Regulus if he called Moony a half-breed.” 

Harry was looking at him, trying to understand.

“I had this idea of Sirius in my head, since forever, that was suddenly corrupted by him doing something cruel. Even if he didn’t realize the consequences of what he was doing, it was still something really cruel.” Harry frowned at that. “On the third full moon, Padfoot got really hurt. I found him trying to clean his wounds alone. I always used to do that for him.” His dad smiled at the memory. “ I offered to help and he asked, very shyly, if we were friends again. I understood then, that I was awfully wrong about ignoring him.”

“Why is that?” Harry asked in a low voice.

“Because people like you, Harry or even Padfoot... You lived so much neglect and lacked so much love growing up, that you have the idea that love can go away. You think it’s temporary.”

Harry felt very vulnerable right then. That was something that he hadn’t told anyone... Ever. And his father just knew. He hugged the man a little tighter. 

“Draco cares about you a lot.” He snorted at that.

“No, he doesn’t.”

They heard a knock on the door. 

“Come in.” Harry said.

Sirius opened the door and frowned.

“Am I interrupting something?” He asked.

“Yes, Padfoot. But you can join for this part of the conversation.” His godfather rolled his eyes.

“How kind, sir. I was only dying of boredom downstairs.” Harry chuckled.

“Sirius. Question without context: Does Draco care about Harry?”

Padfoot seemed to light up at the question, he raised both of his eyebrows looking at him. 

“Ohhh! Are you finally admitting that you like him?? This is awesome!”

Harry felt the heat on his cheeks. What the fuck? He looked at Sirius as if he had lost his mind; Fixing his glasses. He was going to deny it but his father spoke.

“You had one job, Sirius. Now you scared him.  Harry here is very upset about his fight with Draco and thinks that the kid hates him now. No other things were mentioned.”

“Oh... well, yes. He cares about you a whole lot.” He said with a hesitant voice.

“You two think I like Malfoy? I don’t!” He said, indignant. “I like Ginny. I thought you knew, Malfoy says everyone knows.”

“Oh, well, if  Draco  says so, then it must be true” Sirius said in a mocking tone, Harry glared at him.

“Sirius.” His father hissed at him. “Stop it. This is counterproductive.” His godfather rolled his eyes.

“I really don’t like boys, Padfoot. Only girls.” He said with a determined tone. Sirius only blinked and then he looked at Harry’s father with an annoyed expression.

“Did you told him to say those words, in that exact order, James? It’s not even funny.” He started to walk towards the door, as soon as he said it. His dad was quickly moving him to the side to get out of the bed and go after him.

“Pads! No! It was just a coinci-“ The words of his father were interrupted by the sound of the door being slammed.

————————-

The next morning, he went downstairs to have breakfast, and found his father talking with Sirius. Padfoot was ignoring the man next to him, reading the Daily Prophet while he drank his coffee. Harry stood on the other side of the doorframe, quiet. He didn't want to interrupt. The dinner from last night had been awkward enough.  
  
"Come on, Padfoot... I swear I didn't say a word to him." His godfather turn to glare at him.  
  
"Yes, well, It doesn't matter. It's not just about that. You can’t help being your egomaniac-self, getting ‘flirty’ with me in front of Draco and him. I don't like it, it puts ideas in Harry's head." The man huffed.  
  
"Have you ever thought , just for a second, that maybe I'm really flirting with you?" His father hissed, and Sirius blushed terribly.  
  
"Stop, James. Just stop." His father groaned.  
  
"You are being so difficult. I don't know what else I have to do for you to believe me."  
  
Harry wished that his dad would talk to him about this. He wanted to tell him that he didn't have a problem with them being together.  
  
At first, maybe, he had this weird feeling when he thought about his mother, he kept asking himself how would she feel about this... But then, he would see the way that his father smiled at Sirius. How could he be mad about it? They looked so happy...  
  
Harry tried to turn around to go back to his room, to give them privacy, but he tripped with his own feet. His godfather followed the noise and saw him outside the kitchen.  
  
"Oh... Good morning, Prongslet. Breakfast?" The man said, he just nodded.  
  
They ate in silence for a while. He could see Padfoot and his dad stealing glances of each other from time to time. Then, his godfather spoke with a kind smile on his face.  
  
"Sorry about yesterday. I didn't know that you liked Ginny, but that's great." Harry just shrugged. "Have you told her?"  
  
"No. She's dating someone else." He heard his father say 'ouch..' in a low voice. "It's my fault really, she had this thing for me since her first year... But I couldn't see her in that way. She was already moving on when I noticed her." And then Padfoot bursted into laughter. His dad and him looked ar the man like he had lost his mind.

"I'm sorry! It's just-" he said between laughs. “You truly are Lily’s son. Your mother didn’t even look twice James’s way until he stopped asking her out.”

Harry saw the soft smile that his father had on his face. He smiled too.

—————————

The days went by ,and soon, he would have to return to school again. Harry was nervous about it. He wanted to fix this thing with Malfoy, he just didn’t know how.

He kept looking at the map, at least to know what the blond boy was doing lately. He noticed that he was spending more time with Nott (something that Ron thought it was a good thing but Harry disagreed). 

Padfoot opened the door of his room without knocking and Harry tried to hide the map under his pillow. Sirius arched an eyebrow.

“Given the fact that you went to see your redhead princess to the burrow yesterday, I’m going to assume that you were monitoring Draco.” Harry blushed from the embarrassment and crossed his arms.

“I want to know if he is alright. I can’t ask him, so..” His godfather hummed and sat beside him. Harry noticed he was carrying a bag in his hands.

“Maybe you could try apologizing. You said that you explained but you never said that you had apologized.”

“I don’t know, the problem is that Malfoy doesn’t even want to look at me, much less have a civil conversation.”

Padfoot rolled his eyes, exasperated.

“Not to him! Apologize to Nott. Draco would appreciate it and that way you can get on his good side.”

Harry blinked. He actually hadn’t thought of that... Maybe because he disliked Nott too much, but he did owed him an apology... Then, Padfoot spoke again.

“And if that doesn’t work...” He said as he passed him the bag in his hands. “You give him that.”

Harry opened the bag and widened his eyes. Inside of it, there was a Discman with some headphones and some CD’s, all from Queen. Some of them were the same as the vinyls that the blond boy had but the others were the albums that Sirius promised to show him as soon as he could. 

He looked at Padfoot again, confused.

“They are not the same as the vinyls, the sound isn’t as good, but I thought the two of you could use it at Hogwarts.”

He pulled Sirius into a hug. He loved him so much. Harry never had anything of his own until he entered his life... 

“Thank you, Padfoot.”

“It’s nothing. I love you, Harry. I want you to be happy.” Said his godfather as he hugged him back.


	22. High (on Felix felicis)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Sorry, I took a few days to write but the good news is that today I have two chapters for you! Let me know what you think! 
> 
> Ps. I’ve checked but I apologize for the errors you may find in this one (grammar or vocabulary)

Draco hated the Room of Requirement. He hated that it worked for everyone, even if what they were doing was utterly stupid and the biggest mistake of their lives. He hated that Theodore never let him come in to the room with him.

Draco found himself walking in front of the room, like every other night since the boy left the hospital, thinking about what he needed.

‘ I need to enter the same room that Theodore Nott just did. I need to enter the same room that Theodore Nott just did. I need to enter the same room that Theodore Nott just did.’

The door refused to present before him. Just like in fifth year when he wanted to warn the stupid DA about Umbridge coming. He hated what it meant then and he hated what it meant now: neither Potter or Theodore want your stupid help, Draco. Stop being pathetic.

It was worth the shot. He turn around and started to walk towards the dungeons.  
Tomorrow, everyone was coming back from the Easter holidays and Draco knew that Theodore would stop being around him. The blond boy was very aware that the problem was people seeing him talking with a ‘blood traitor’, that Theo needed him around but he wasn’t about to risk everything just for talking to the grey-eyed boy at breakfast.

The only eyes that the brunette didn’t mind were Blaise’s , Pansy’s or even Vincent’s and Greg’s. Draco knew that it was because they were ‘their people’. And he didn’t mean in a ‘they are pureblood just like us', no. The blond boy meant that they were their Slytherins friends, they were the one to uphold the Slytherins-codes of friendship: you never betray your people. Not even if their choices are bad, not even if you grew apart; you remember those things that made you friends in that moment of your lives and try to be there for them.

Pansy loved the code. She used to recite it in second year when she thought that Draco or Theo were the heirs of Slytherin. She just hugged them a lot, told them that they could trust her, that maybe she didn’t agree with what they were doing but it was irrelevant. She wanted them to be safe and to have someone that they could rely on. Draco and Theo used to laugh until their belly’s hurt in response.  ‘Honestly, Pans. You think that if I were the heir of Slytherin You would NOT know? I would probably say it to every person that I’d meet’. (that was Draco) Yeah, Pansy. And don’t you think that I would be acting a little more suspicious? I’m literally with the two of you every bloody hour of every bloody day. When would I have the time to free the monster? Besides, I cover my monster quota with your troll face in the mornings.’ (That, of course, was Theo).

So Theodore trusted the Slytherins to shut their mouths about everything, about what he was doing, about him spending time with Draco... And in return, there was this implicit agreement that the brunette was not going to talk about them either. He wasn't going to mention to anyone that Pansy and Blaise were friends with the golden trio now, because he lived by the rules of the slytherin-code too.

Draco had broken the code when he went to see the Headmaster. He felt kind of guilty about it, but the end justified the means: he needed to help and he couldn't do it by keeping his mouth shut. The blond boy was just glad that Theodore didn't hate him for it.  
When he got to his room, Blaise was reading a book on his bed. He didn't even take his eyes off the book to speak.

"No luck?" Draco groaned as he threw himself on his bed.

"I fucking hate this."

"I know, Dragon." His best friend said in a calm voice.

———————-

Easter Holidays were over and that meant that the castle was full with people again. He put his best effort into avoiding the Gryffindors during the entire day. He took the long ways to classes and if one of them happened to be near, then the blond boy would turn around and walk in the opposite direction.

Draco was surprised when he found Potter talking to Theodore in front of the Slytherin dungeons after classes. He frowned and walked towards them. The voices became clearer.  
"Fine, I accept your half ass apology, Potter." Theo said with an annoyed expression. The green eyed boy glared at him.  
"It's not half anything, Nott" The brunette snorted and rolled his eyes.

"Yes, because this is not a lame attempt of getting him to talk to you." Draco saw the green-eyed boy blush a little and stuttered a response.

  
"It- it's really not. I just wanted to say to you that I'm sorry about what happened."

  
Draco slowed down his steps... He felt the frowned on his face soften. The daffodils were really quiet during the holidays, Draco had almost forgotten that he felt like this around Potter. So all consuming, focused on him. The flowers were thrilled: 'See? He is perfect. Kiss him'.. Fortunately, he had more common sense than the stupid daffodils. He took a deep breath (at least as deep as he could right now) before talking.  


"Is something wrong, Theodore?" He asked. Playing dumb was probably the best option.

  
The boys turned around to look at Draco who was standing beside them. Potter was staring at him, the blond boy could tell that he was nervous, his green eyes looked troubled. The brunette shook his head.  


"No, Potter here was just apologizing to me. Now, If you excuse me, I have other places to be." Said the hazel-eyed boy with a sassy tone an then, he started to walk towards the stairs.

  
'Of course you are choosing this moment to escape to that bloody room. I hate that you are being so fucking obvious.'Draco thought as he followed the boy with his eyes.  


"So... How have you been?" Potter asked with a soft tone.

  
Draco looked at the boy. The petals were moving like crazy, begging him to get closer, he had to fight the urge to listen to them.

  
"What do you want?" He asked calmly. The dark-haired boy shifted his weight between his feet.  


"I just... Can you forgive me? Please."  


Draco was surprised by the trembling sound of his voice, so honest. He looked at him, trying to understand why would he feel like this. Yes, he didn't go back to Grimmauld but he hadn't thought that he would actually care. At least not that much. And the daffodils couldn't stop moving. When he didn't respond Potter started to talk again.

  
" I know that it was awful. I can't imagine how you felt. It's just that-" The boy took a deep breath as he looked directly into his eyes. "I know that I've been a prat since New Year's Eve, but I could not understand how you were dying for him. And I shouldn't have used that spell without knowing what it did. I'm sorry. Being like this sucks. I just want to fix this. Please, Malfoy."

  
Draco started to cough right there. It wasn't a coughing fit, but still. Potter looked worriedly at him and took his wand out to vanish the petals as they fell on the floor.

  
"Sorry. I didn't want to upset you. I understand if you don't want to be friends anymore." Said the boy with a soft voice and a pained look in his green eyes. And where the fuck did that come from? Yes, Draco was furious with him and decided to have some space, but that's it. He didn't want to go back at Grimmauld to fight with Potter in front of Sirius and Mr. Potter... It was the boy's house after all. He deserved to spend the holidays without Draco slamming doors every time he saw him. And he also thought that staying meant that he could convince Theodore (which ended up not happening).

  
Then, he gave Draco a black bag. The blond boy frowned. "It's from Padfoot. He said that it was for the two of us, but you are going to give it more use than me, so..."

  
Draco didn't understand what he was looking at when he opened the bag. There was something silver with buttons and tiny earmuffs. Then, he saw the album cover from 'Sheer Heart Attack' and widened his eyes. The blond boy put the bag on the floor to inspect the little box; amazed. It look like glass, but it didn't feel like glass and it was so tiny. His vinyls were like four times that box, at least. He heard a soft chuckle.  


"I can teach you how it works..." He lifted his eyes to see the boy. "I mean- If you want to, of course. I can go get Mione if you prefer." said the green-eyed boy soft blush on his face. 'Stop it, you useless flowers. He is blushing because this is the most awkward conversation ever and it's embarrasing.'

  
"You know that I'm just angry, right? You keep acting weird." Draco said, confused.

  
"You are?" Potter asked, hopeful look in his eyes.  


"Well, yes. I thought you knew that." The boy shook softly his head and then he smiled at him.  


"That's good. I mean, not good. I want for us to be okay, you know? But It's better." Draco arched his eyebrow, confused.  


"What did you thought it was going on, Potter?" And the boy smiled even more brightly at him. "What?" He asked, annoyed;the boy just shrugged.  


"You haven't called me anything since the infirmary. Maybe you didn't notice, but if you talked to me you would never call me anything. Not Potty, not Scarhead, not the prat who lived and not even my surname."  


Draco hadn't realized actually. He was astounded that the green-eyed boy did... The flowers were fucking tickling him. 'HE CARES, HE CARES, HE CARES. He tried to remain calm.

  
The truth was that Draco didn’t have it in him to be mad anymore. He felt so weak, day by day... being apart from Potter was destroying him. He felt it everywhere. He sighed.

“Did you really use that spell without knowing what it was?” He asked, looking at those green eyes, trying to find answers. 

“I really did. We can steal Snape’s veritaserum if you want. I’ll take it, and you’ll see that I’m telling the truth.” 

Draco snorted and shook his head.

“That won’t be necessary, Potty. I believe you.” 

And suddenly, Potter was pulling him into a hug. It was kind of weird. The boy was shorter than him, so the messy hair ended up right under Draco’s nose. ’He smells wonderful.’He just stood there, waiting for him to pull back, holding all his air in because the flowers were throwing a fucking party inside of his lungs.

The dark-haired boy promptly realized that Draco wasn’t returning the hug so he pulled away, shy eyes looking at him.

“Sorry. You are probably still mad, it’s just-“

“Stop apologizing, Potter. I beg you.” He grabbed the bag and smirked at him. “Are you going to teach me how to use this or not?”

The green-eyed smiled so brightly at him that Draco thought that he was going to die from the tickles in his lungs.

——————

Getting back his Sundays with Weasley was a relief. He missed him so much. 

They chose not to play chess that day so they could catch up on everything. They absolutely prohibited anyone from joining them (something that Granger and his best friends understood, but Potter did not).

It was warm outside. This was probably Draco’s favorite time of the year, when it wasn’t too hot or too cold and everything smelled nice. He was sitting with Weasley near the lake, enjoying some peace after this awful months.

“Did Harry told you that he can’t play the last game of the season?” Draco frowned at him. “Yeah, it sucks. Snape put his detention on the same day at the same hour.”

“Detention?” Weasley, then, looked at him, confused.

“Yes, detention. For the curse, ferret. You were there.” Draco said ‘Oh...’ in a low voice. “Ginny was super pissed, she thought that maybe you suggested it to him, since he is your godfather and-“

Draco lost his cool at that.

“I fucking didn’t. Yes, I was mad. Yes, I ignored the golden boy and stayed here but I’m not petty. This was Severus idea. I can talk to him tomorrow if you want.”

Ron shook his head softly, looking at the lake. 

“I don’t think Snape is asking too much. Harry could have been expeled for what he did.” He sighed. “And Harry wouldn’t want you to talk to him either. He kind of had a discussion with Ginny at the burrow. She said that he was acting like he didn’t care about the cup; and Harry said that he clearly wanted to play, but he actually had other worries in his life that weren’t quidditch.” Draco gasped dramatically.

“Never let Mr. Potter hear that. He would never recover from the heartbreak.” Weasley chuckled and looked at him with kind eyes.

“I missed you, ferret.” 

“I missed you too, weasel.” He said smiling at the redhead”

———————

The exams were near and Draco couldn’t help but to think that it was all so useless. He wanted to read something that would give them an advantage at war, not fucking history of magic. And yes, dark magic is bad but... How were they supposed to defend themselves with the eight offensives spells that were taught at school?

Draco didn’t care if he died, he was dying anyways, but the golden trio needed training (like high level auror training). And the sooner they got it, the better.

Because his friends liked to pretend that they were normal teenagers even though they weren’t, Draco found himself studying at the library with his two best friends and two thirds of the golden trio.

They had asked Severus and McGonagall for a special permit to study all together at the library. Draco was surprised that they had let them. Almost no one could leave their houses after curfew since the begging of the year... But McGonagall seemed to be happy with the request; said that it was good that they were taking care of their studies, and that she cherished Inter-house unity. Severus couldn’t complain after that.

Potter apparently had better things to do than study. The blond boy wished he had came up with an excuse too. 

“Draco, at least pretend that you are reading the book.” Said Granger, and Pansy chuckled.

“I think that it’s a-“ He began to say but he was interrupted.

“A waste of time. Yes, Dragon. We know.” Draco glared at him.

“Come on, ferret. Even I’m making an effort. Oh! I know.” Said the redhead as he grabbed his potions book. “If you don’t want to study you can help me with potions. I don’t understand a bloody thing ,and you don’t even read instructions when you brew.”

So he ended up helping the weasel. Or teaching him would be a better term, because he didn’t seem to know even the basic stuff of the subject. Maybe an hour had passed, it was getting really late and he wanted Hermione to call it a night. It had to be her bloody decision, because she had declared herself the leader of their little study group.

Then they heard someone else enter the library. Draco looked alarmed at the door for a second until he recognized Potter.

The boy was rather energetic, he walked towards them with a smile on his face. The weasel widened his eyes.

“And...?” The redhead asked, anxious.

“Done and with time to spare. I thought that I could join you and study for a while.” 

There was something rather strange about the boy. His voice was different somehow... The daffodils didn’t even moved when he talked, it was like they didn’t recognize him either. 

“Of course, Harry!” Answered Granger with a smile and Draco almost groaned because now they would be there all night.

Then the boy walked around the table to where Weasley and him were.

“Ron can you move a little so I have a place to sit, please?” Draco frowned at that.

First of all: the table was huge and Potter could sit in all the other  free places. And second of all: what was going on with him?  He was never that polite. The shocking part was that Weasley didn’t even complain, he just moved to the left and let the green-eyed boy sit between them. 

“Potter, he was sitting there because I was helping him with potions.” Draco said with an annoyed tone. The boy didn’t seem to notice, he just grabbed the book and passed it to the blond boy.

“Well, I need help too.” He said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

And Draco wanted to know why he was acting so weird. He looked at Granger and Weasley for an explanation, but the other two just had this amused expression on their faces. 

“Since when? You’ve been on top of the class since the beginning of the year, Potty.” He said and snorted.

“Are we friends?” The boy asked suddenly. Draco widened his eyes and stared at him.What the fuck?. “Because I think we are, but you never call me Harry. And you call all your friends by their names or by a cute nickname. I don’t have a cute nickname: Potty is the one you use when you want to make fun of me.”

The blond boy was frozen in place. He really couldn’t understand what was happening. The flowers seemed to wake up at that, hearing Potter’s rant about the ways that Draco called him. 

“Is Potter high?” Pansy asked raising one eyebrow. Blaise looked quite entertained as well.

“Not exactly.” Hermione responded, trying not to laugh.

“Come on, ferret! Harry asked you a question.” He said with a smug tone. Fucking weasel. At this point, Draco was already blushing.

“Yes, we are friends. Stop acting weird.” Draco said as he passed the pages of the potions book.

“Great.” The boy smiled at him brightly. “Does that mean that you are going to call me Harry or do I get a cute nickname?” 

And Draco thought that he was going to die from the embarrassment and the fucking flowers slamming themselves against the walls of his lungs. The only good thing was that Potter was acting so weird that he didn’t even have the concentration to cough. But his face was really red, he felt the heat all over his cheeks and ears. Draco decided to play it safe.

“ What, Potter? Do you want me to call you ‘darling’, too?”

He thought that it would be enough for the conversation to be drop entirely, but he was mistaken.

“That would be nice, yes.” Answered the green-eyed boy, and everyone bursted into laughter. Draco blushed terribly.

“If I agree to call you by your stupid name, would you drop this?” And the boy nodded enthusiastically. “Fine, Harry. Salazar, It’s unnatural.”

“I don’t think so, Draco” said the boy with a smile on his face.

When he turned to see the rest of his friends, everyone had this smug look on their eyes. Draco wanted to punch them.


	23. Daffodil.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am soooo nervous about this chapter! Please let me know if you liked it!! I’ve been waiting a long time to write it ✨✨
> 
> Ps. I’ve checked but sorry if you find any errors in this one!

The news that Ginevra had broken up with Thomas moved rather quickly around the school. Potter seemed to be in an excellent mood since that weird day on the library, and Draco didn't even doubt that it was because of that.

The green-eyed boy would spent his days discussing quidditch with his stupid crush or tagging along on everything that Draco decided to do. The daffodils were thrilled about it. It was like Harry (Merlin, he hated calling him that) was trying to compensate for all the months that they spent fighting.

They were outside with the weasel and Hermione. Draco wanted to be near the lake for a while and, as soon as he invited the redhead, the other two parts of the Golden Trio were saying that they wanted to come with.

Draco had to admit that it was all too weird. The dark-haired boy kept acting different around him. At least, different than before, and the blond boy couldn't understand why. Like, for example, he would choose to sit next to him. Always. It didn't even matter the activity or the context. It happened so often that Weasley started to leave him the place for him to sit. And he kept trying to tell himself that it didn't mean anything, but sometimes the flowers were being really insistent. 'He wants you close. He wants you close. He wants you close. He wants you close'.  And at some point... Maybe he believed them a little.

Right now, Potter was lying on the grass next to where he was sitting. Eyes closed, but Draco knew he wasn't sleeping because his mouth twitched in amusement when he heard Weasley say something cute about Hermione.

"Why don't they just kiss? They are obviously into each other." Draco whispered so only the green-eyed boy could hear.

"I think it's because they have too much history." Potter responded, opening his eyes. The blond boy just kept looking at him, waiting for a decent explantation. "If they get together, it's going to be this huge thing, you know? I think they just want to be really sure that they are both on the same page." Draco snorted.

"There is no 'if' about it. Those two are endgame. I know about this stuff." And he saw Potter smirking at him, playfully.

"Maybe that's because you are a Good old- fashioned lover boy, Draco."

The blond boy felt the daffodils slamming themselves against the walls of his lungs. ' HE JUST QUOTED QUEEN TO YOU! KISS HIM! KISS HIM NOW!'. He blushed and looked away. The flowers were doing that a lot. Draco had started to think of them as a separate person that lived inside of him. Like the daffodils were all his feeling gathered in tiny yellow flowers that screamed at him to make a move, that he had a chance at this. The grey-eyed boy was not that naive.  


"Maybe I am, Potty." He said without looking at him, and the green-eyed boy groaned.

  
"Harry."

  
"No, I have the right to use your name when I prefer. I still call Weasley by his surname." Potter crossed his arms and huffed.

  
"Yes, but he gets 'weasel' as a cute nickname"  


"You do realize that we just changed the meaning of our own insults, right? With that logic scarhead should be yours. Or Potty." Draco asked arching an eyebrow.

  
"It's not the same." he heard the boy muttered.

  
"Why?" The blond boy asked but he only got a shrug as a response.

  
Why was this so important to him? Draco couldn't understand it. His friendship with Weasley went beyond the stupid nicknames and the banter. He trusted him, a lot. He turned to look at the boy lying beside him. Maybe that was what bothered him? The fact that the blond boy put this barriers between them, so he could keep the little dignity he had... And clearly one of the ways that it manifested was in the way he called Potter. Draco sighed and laid on the grass too.

  
"I'm going to the game on Saturday. Gryffindor red and shit." He said blushing a little. It was stupid, he was going to game for Weasley... Hermione had ask him to join her and Luna and he accepted. Maybe it would cheer up Potter, show him that he cared.

  
He turn around to see the boy. Potter was looking at him, his eyes were so green...  


"You don't have things that are red." He said with a confused tone. Draco laughed.

  
"Yeah, I know. Weasley is lending me his quidditch shirt. The one he'll not be using at the game, clearly."

  
The boy frowned a little and looked away, soft blush on his cheeks.

  
"That sounds great." He said, but his tone gave Draco the impression that he didn't think it was something positive at all.

  
"I know it sucks not to play at the last game..." The blond boy said with a soft voice. "But you are going to win this, your beloved Ginevra will catch the snitch and Gryffindor is going to win the cup." Potter just smiled softly.  
  
  
"I know. She is going to fly brilliantly, I already told her." He said with a marveled look in his eyes.

  
He held his breath to avoid coughing, trying to think about something else that was not them. He hated so much feeling like this. The blond boy hated that he could be feeling so happy , so utterly in love, and then something would remind him that it was one-sided.  


Draco ended up coughing anyway.

————————-  


Pansy couldn't believe that she was doing a Gryffindor make-up for Draco Lucius Malfoy.

The blond boy could see her annoyed face during the entire process. She was in their bedroom with Blaise. They were alone, since Theodore had taken Greg and Vince with him. 'Oh, I wonder where could they possibly be??'. He was being so fucking obvious.

Draco was already dressed. He had some black jeans on with the Gryffindor t-shirt and some combat boots. He thought that this was probably what Sirius used when he went to Mr. Potter's games.

"I'm using golden eye-shadow, darling. It's still Gryffindory and It doesn't hurt my eyes." She said as she passed softly the brush over his eyelids. He chuckled and mumbled 'Whatever you say, Pans'.

When he looked at the mirror, after she was done, he really liked it. The soft golden eye-shadow gave him a more luminous look, and made his grey eyes appear almost silver. It was pretty natural but it Draco thought it looked perfect.

"Thank you, darling." He said and kissed her cheek before going to meet the Gryffindors at the Great Hall.

When he got to the table, Ginevra and Weasley were on their quidditch uniforms. Potter was sitting across them, next to Granger.

"Ferret! You look awesome."

"Thanks, weasel. Pansy did the make-up." He said and sat next to Potter.

He could feel his green eyes on him. The blond boy tried to ignore the daffodils tickling him, as he poured himself some tea. Potter didn't stop looking at him, though.

"Take a picture, It'll last longer." He said without looking at the boy.  
Then he heard Weasley chuckled and Draco took that as a cue to turn to see the boy. Harry had a soft blush on his cheeks and stuttering a response.

"It- It's just weird! I wasn't-"

"Chill, Potty. It was just a joke." The blond boy answered with a calm voice. The flowers didn't feel calm, though. He resisted the urge to cough at the rejection. Took a sip of his tea to stop them from coming up.

After a while they said goodbye to Potter, with the promise to meet him at the common room when the match ended. The green-eyed boy just nodded and wished them luck before going to meet Severus for his detention.

Hermione grabbed his arm and guided him.

"Come on, Draco. Let’s got to find Luna.”

—————————-  
  
The match had been incredible. He could not say a thing about Potter's team. They moved so coordinated, so united... It was an honor to cheer for Weasley at the match, he was fierce and most of all: he had so much fun. Draco thought it was the happiest he had seen Weasley since they had became friends.

The chasers kept on scoring and, in the end, Ginevra catched the snitch.  
The Gryffindor stands exploded in a triumphant cheer and Hermione pushed Draco to climb down the stairs and ran to the pitch to meet Ron. The Gryffindor girl threw herself on Weasley's arms and hugged him tightly.

"You were amazing, Ronald!!" The weasel was as red as his own hair, looking at Draco standing beside them, with widened eyes and trying to articulate a word.

"Th-Thanks, Mione."

Draco mouthed 'Make a move' at him and the redhead showed him the middle finger. He chuckled and shook his head.  
"Congratulations, weasel. Never thought that I would be happy to see Gryffindor winning the cup, but you deserve it." The boy smiled brightly at him.

"Thanks, ferret." Then, he felt the weasel putting one arm around him and started to guide him towards the castle. "You are coming to the victory party with us."

The entire trip to the Gryffindor tower was loud. The sea of red and gold singing and clapping their hands, letting the entire castle know that they were victorious. The portrait opened and everyone started to get in. Draco had never been inside of their common room but he thought it looked just like Sirius's room at Grimmauld. Everything was red and cozy.

Potter was waiting for them with an anxious expression, but then he saw Ginevra running towards him, her silky long hair moving with her, bright smile on her face.

"We did it! We won the cup!!" And threw herself into Potter's arms, so freely. Draco started to feel really sick, looking at the way that the boy smiled at her, like she was the only person in the entire room.  
And without saying anything, Harry kissed her. They kissed so slowly, smiling the entire time.

Draco felt his lungs feel with petals. The pain was unbearable. He put a hand on his chest, he needed to get out of there. This was not a coughing fit. It was too painful to be a coughing fit.

He pushed himself through the sea of people to get to the bloody door. Luckily for him, everyone was too busy looking at Potter and the fucking she-weasel to notice him leaving.

Once he was outside he ran to the dungeons as fast as he could. Crying, because the air was not enough but he couldn't even cough and the pain was so much. He hated this stupid disease.

When he got to the dungeons he barely could speak the password to get in. His throat was closed. The blond boy entered and went directly to his room. Theodore was the only one there.

“Draco? You look-“

But the voice of the boy was interrupted by Draco forcing himself to cough. He didn’t know what the hell was stuck in his throat but he needed to breathe. He would faint if he could not get more air inside of his lungs.

The petals were hurting him, but compared to the burning feeling on his chest it was nothing. Cough after cough, he expected petals to come out but they didn’t. 

He smelled Potter then. Draco looked up with widened eyes and found Theo holding the amortentia vial for him. That just made it worse so the blond boy took a step back and coughed even harder.

Something started to move, to came out. Another cough. His face was red from the suffocation, he could tell.

And there it was. An entire daffodil, lying on the floor. Covered in blood. Draco couldn’t help to kneel next to it. He took it in his hands. The tears started to course down his cheeks. Draco was so fucking tired of crying because of the prat who lived. It hurt too much.

He felt Theo sitting next to him, rubbing his back.

“He kissed her.” Draco said with a trembling voice, Theo didn’t even had to ask who. “She threw herself in his arms, in front of the entire Gryffindor tower” He hissed; a petal fell from his mouth. “Like there was not even a fucking doubt that he would want her back. I hate her. I hate that she doesn’t even know him. And I hate him for wanting her.” He said as he cried harder. “I- I know that it’s not a fucking choice, because if it were I would never have chosen him.”

“Yes, you would have.” Said Theodore with a pained voice. And Draco cried even harder.

“I just want to stop feeling like this. At least for a moment.” The blond boy said with a broken voice. “I want someone to choose me for once. I want to feel wanted. I want to feel something other than this fucking flowers. I wan-“

But his rant was interrupted by Theodore putting his mouth over his. 

Draco widened his eyes, as he felt the boy demanding everything from him in that same kiss. It was raw, filled with need... The flowers kept warning him ‘NOT HIM, NOT HIM, NOT HIM’ but he couldn’t listen to them because he just felt Theodore everywhere.

The blond boy retuned the kiss with the same urge, taking the boy’s face with his hands. It all seemed too much ,and not enough, at the same time. It was nothing like his kiss with Blaise. This felt real. He wanted him so much. Draco put some space between them, trying to catch some breath.

“I thought... that you didn’t-“ But Theodore interrupted him.

“I know what you thought. This is me not giving a fuck anymore.” He said and kissed Draco again, guiding him into into his lap.

They didn’t stop. They just kept touching and kissing. From time to time, the blond boy would cough and the petals would fall on the bed. The brunette didn’t care ,though.

Theo even kissed him and swallowed some of the petals. Draco thought that it was the hottest thing he ever experienced. 

“I’ve never...” he said with a shy voice.

“Me neither. At least not with a boy.”

So they figured out together. Between kisses, and smiles.

When it was over, Draco kissed him very softly. The hazel-eyed smiled at him.

“Wait here.” He said and got off the bed, Draco frowned and waited. 

He wasn’t gone for long. When he got back inside of the bed with him, he was carrying the daffodil in his hand.

“Can I keep it?” Theo asked with a low voice, almost shy... So not like him.

“Don’t you think it’s disgusting?” The boy shook his head. “Fine, keep it.”

They spent the night on Theo’s bed, slept into each other’s arms. And for the first time in forever, Draco didn’t dream about Potter that night.


	24. Cunning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!! Here is the new one! I hope you like it✨✨
> 
> Ps. I’ve checked but sorry if you find any errors on this one.

Draco woke up on Sunday with his head resting on Theodore’s naked chest. He blinked a few times, trying to clear his vision. He felt a little sore bat nothing that he couldn’t handle, the Hanahaki normally hurt worse than this.

“Good morning.” He heard Theo whisper to him. He looked up and sa the boy smiling softly. “How are you feeling?” 

Draco knew that he was asking about the stupid flowers.The question actually was: ’Did we just made you more sick with this?’Draco just smiled at him.

“I’m fine. Really, Theo.” And he started to lean to give him a kiss, to calm him, but then he stoped half-way through... What if it was just about last night? Draco didn’t want to be those pathetic guys that assumed that they were kind of ‘a thing’ just because they slept together.

The brunette must had seen the doubt on his face because he closed the distance that was left between them and kissed him softly.

Draco felt his brain shut down. It was like last night: the boy got close to him, and the only thing in his body that was still working properly was the fucking daffodils. ’IT’S NOT HIM! WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?’ Draco ignored them as he returned the kiss. Whatever, it’s not like Potter is going to care, he already had the she-weasel.

They were still naked. The night before Theodore sealed the curtains and casted the silencing charm around them... The kissed deepened, the blond boy let out a soft moan as a petal escape from his mouth. Theo swallowed it just like last night, and bit Draco’s bottom lip, before putting some distance between them.

“Draco, I need you to think for the two of us right now.” He whispered with his eyes close. “If we keep doing this... Are you going to get worst?” 

The grey-eyed boy kissed his neck softly, slowly and between the kisses he spoke.

“I... Frankly... don’t... give... a fuck.” 

Theo let out a soft groan and mumbled ‘Fuck it’ before he rolled Draco as he put himself on top of the blond.

“I still think this is a bad idea.” Whispered the hazel-eyed.

“Yes, Theodore. But bad ideas are our speciality.” He responded with a smirk.

———————

He was alone in his bed now. Apparently being someone’s first (and second) time couldn’t cancel the Dark Lord’s mission. Draco felt so impotent. ’I don’t know what else to do so he would stop this.’

“Dragon...? The Golden Trio is outside, asking for you. It’s past noon.” Blaise said with a soft voice. 

Draco sat on the bed and opened up the curtains.

“I know what time it is.” He said with a tired voice.

“Okay... you should eat something. You missed breakfast and lunch, we were worried.”

The blond boy started to get of the bed and grabbed his night robe to put something over his pajamas. He started to go to the dungeons entrance, trying to avoid looking at Blaise.

“Dragon! You’ve got-“ But his voice was cut out by the door of the room getting closed.

When he got outside, the three Gryffindors were waiting for him. The daffodils had mixed feeling about seeing the green-eyed boy. They were thrilled that he was worried, standing in front of him, but they also remembered his kiss with the redhead. He resisted the urge to cough.

“Ferret! Where have you been?” Ron said with a worried tone. Draco controlled himself ,so he would not rant about how he was hiding from the prat that was right next to him.

“I was feeling kind of sick last night so I came back. Didn’t want to interrupt your fun.” He said with a calm voice. Granger spoke then.

“Don’t you want to go to the infirmary...? You’ve missed two meals-“ The blond boy just shook his head. 

“No, thank you, Hermione. I took some pepper-up potion. I was just resting.”

Potter walked to where he was, frown in place. He didn’t give two shits about being in Draco’s personal space. He tried to remain calm but he could almost feel his breathing if he focused enough... He looked down and saw those very green eyes, very quite angry.

“Did someone hurt you?” The prat who lived asked as he looked at Draco’s neck.

‘Dragon! You’ve got-‘

Shit.

He took a step back, fighting the blush and the urge to cover the hickey with his hand. It would be more obvious if he did so. 

The flowers were frantic. ‘HE IS MAD. WE KNEW THIS WOULD HAPPEN. MAKE HIM HAPPY. MAKE HIM HAPPY. MAKE HIM HAPPY.’ Salazar, it was like they didn’t even have self-respect.

Suddenly, Hermione widened his eyes and the weasel smiled brightly. He felt Ron grab his arm to whisper in excitement.

“Ferret, is that a hickey??” He asked. “DID YOU DISAPPEAR LAST NIGHT TO GET LA-“ Draco interrupted him; hissing.

“Say ir a little louder, why don’t you?” 

Potter eyes were hurt, it was clear as a day. What Draco couldn’t understand was why. Then he heard the boy ask with a soft voice:

“Are you cured now?” 

Draco wanted to kill him. How does he even know if it was Theodore? But now Weasley was smiling even brighter and Hermione was looking at him, expectant. 

“What the hell are you talking about?” He decided to play dumb. Maybe he could get around this. 

No such luck, though. Potter looked around him to check if somebody was looking and casted a muffliato around them. He took out a folded piece of parchment and pointed to it with his wand.

“I solemnly swear that I’m up to no good.”

The blanc parchment started to reveal it self to them.

‘Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs  
Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers  
are proud to present  
THE MARAUDER'S MAP’

Draco blinked. Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs... Holy shit. This was the marauder’s legacy. A heirloom, just like the cloak.

Then, Potter opened the map and Tthe only thing he could do was gasp. The entire castle was there and it showed everyone who was in it, and where. He glared at Potter then.

“Did you spied on me  again?” The dark-haired boy just rolled his eyes.

“Ron said that you disappeared. I used the map to find you, but then I saw you with Nott. I thought you wouldn’t want me to interrupt. Now answer: Are you cured now?”

The flowers were slamming themselves against his lungs, begging for him to do something. He tried to hold down the coughs but he couldn’t, Potter’s eyes were too pained and he couldn’t handle it. 

Petals escaped out of his mouth, Weasley’s face fell and Potter groaned.

“How is this even possible?” And Draco lost his cool at that. Thank Merlin for the muffliato.

“Well; the cure is someone’s heart, not someone’s prick.” 

Draco realized that he made a mistake really quickly. The expressions on Potter’s face started to mix with anger.

“You slept with him? When he doesn’t even love you back?”

He hated him so much. He hated that after all this years he still saw the world so black and white. There was no greys, no ‘in betweens’. He coughed again at the memory of the victory party.

“Sorry, Potter. But you don’t get to slut-shame me, when you snogged your Weasley princess in front of the whole fucking common room. At least I did it privately.”

“Yes, but I didn’t sleep with her.” And Draco was glad he didn’t because the idea only made him cough again.

“And how is it my problem if Ginevra doesn’t put out? I’m sorry? I don’t know what you expect me to say.” He asked arching an eyebrow. He wanted to seem aloof. He couldn’t let Potter know that he cared about this.

“Nothing. Do whatever you like." Potter answered with a harsh voice and started to walk away.

The daffodils were hurting him. He didn't want to cough again, this was too much for him right now. He tried to breathe slowly, to calm down the flowers.

The other two thirds of golden trio were staring at the boy with astounded faces.

"What the bloody hell was that?" The weasel asked with a shocked voice.

Granger sighed before responding.

"I think I have some vague idea of what it was."

Her tone sounded defeated, then, she turned to look at the blond boy.

"We are sorry for the incredible invasion of your privacy that we have allowed. You don't have to explain yourself to anyone, Draco."

He nodded and mumbled a 'thank you'. The Gryffindor girl asked Ron to go see Harry, because she might just slap him if she did. The redhead nodded and left to find the boy. Then, Hermione turned to him.

"Why don't you get changed and we can go outside for a while? I needed to talk to you about something."

Draco looked at her confused, but he went to his room to grab some clothes. He told Pansy and Blaise that he was going to spend some time with Granger, that he would see them at dinner.

The day was nice. At least as nice as it could be. The air was warm and the sound of the wind against the cup of the trees was really soothing.

He walked with the Gryffindor girl until they found a nice quiet place under some trees. The blond boy sat on the grass and she sat beside him.

Draco was kind of nervous. Hermione had an oddly calm look on her face. Then, she spoke with a soft voice.

"Please, don't freak out." She said as she looked at him from the corner of her eye. The boy took a deep breath. "I know it's not Theodore."

Her soft voice sounded like a scream to his ears. He turned to look at her, panicked expression on his face. Shit. Of course this wouldn't last.

"Since when?" He asked with a low voice. The girl looked at him with kind eyes.

"Since you 'confirmed' that it was Nott, I started to pay attention to when you coughed. How, when, how many times. It always happened around Harry, talking about Harry... Then, you started to not talk to us and you looked sicker and sicker as the days passed." He sighed in exhaustion. "I asked Blaise and Pansy if they thought that it was Theodore and the answer was no. Pansy also told me that I could not ask them who, something about a ridiculous code." The blond boy chuckled a little. "I definitely knew that I was right, when I saw your face yesterday. Tried to ran after you but I didn't want to attract more attention to you."

Draco felt his eyes start to fill with tears, remembering that fucking kiss. And of course his best friends would know. Right now he couldn't even imagine why he thought that they were unaware of the situation. They just loved him too much to bring it up... He pulled his knees to his chest and looked away.

"Please...Don't tell him. Every book I've read says that the rejection just speeds up everything. I know that my case is different but I can't be bed bound. I need to fight this war." The girl just nodded.

"I know. I Read everything I could too."

They didn't talk for a while, the sound of the wind filling the silence around them. Then, Granger spoke without looking at him.

"I've been covering for you since my suspicions started. Not because I think that you don't stand a chance, but because I don't believe that Harry is ready to hear it." He said calmly. 

Draco turned to look at her, eyes wide as ever. The daffodils started to move, frantic, happy. His chest filled with this tickling sensation... Hope. He waited for her to go on.

"Don't look so surprise. He always thought you were something of his, one way or another." And you know... What the fuck? The blond boy just blinked. "I have another reason not to say anything but it's kind of selfish."

"What is it?" Granger took a deep breath before talking.

"I want you with us next year. We need you. I'm out-numbered by their stupidity sometimes, I swear." Draco couldn't help to laugh at that. "You can't come back if this gets worst, your family is going to drag you back to the manor, and I saw what you did at the ministry. I'm sure that you know more than that. We need you out there with us."

Draco frowned.

"I don't understand what that has to do with telling Potter."

"If he knows he will feel with the right to decide if you come or not. I'm not going to let that happen."

The blond boy had so many questions in his mind. The flowers wouldn't stop moving... Granger was talking about the top secret Golden Trio mission. She trusted him and she wanted for him to join them that she was lying to Potter about his situation. Draco thought that he was dreaming, everything felt so surreal.

"What is it? Your secret mission or whatever."

Granger had casted a muffliato as soon as they sat on that place, but the blond boy saw her took out her wand to renew the charms just in case. Then she looked at him, tired expression on her face.

"I shouldn't be saying this to you. To be frank, I can't find any more information than what Dumbledore told Harry... Maybe you know about this." She said with hesitation in her tone."Apparently, He made horrocruxes, seven of them. We need to find them and destroy them."

Draco busted into laughter. This year was the most ridiculous year of his short life.

"What is so funny??" The girl said with and annoyed tone. The blond boy answered between the laughs.

"That.. That is the most difficult... way of protecting one's soul. And protecting is a strong word because you lose your humanity each time." He snorted. "Fucking hard to destroy too. You need dark magic: Fiendfyre. And he made seven of them" Draco said, shocked. "No wonder he is so ugly."

Granger hug him then. The boy widened his eyes, as she began to talk with excitement.

"I was right! I've been trying to get Harry to tell you so you could help this whole time! Please say that you will help us.." She said with pleading eyes."Help me keep Harry alive. Please, Draco."

And the blond boy knew that he didn't have a choice. If Potter was going on a suicidal mission to hunt Horrocruxes, then he would make sure that the green-eyed boy would return from it. Draco sighed.

"We are not disappearing on Sirius and Mr. Potter. It would make them reckless and they would look for us anyway; Harry is the only thing they have." He took a deep breath. "If we do this, we do it with a safe house and we use it if nessesary. Whatever nomad life you are picturing is our very last resort." And the girl nodded enthusiastically. "And we train. The four of us. You and I are not going to be pulling their fucking weight on the battle field because Potter seems to only be able to cast an Expelliarmus."

"Couldn't agree more." Granger said with a smile.

Draco smirked at her and closed his eyes, listening to the cups of the trees moving... They kept in silence for a while and then he decided to speak.

"Very Slytherin of you." He said, smirk still in place. "To lie to your own friends when they are worried and shit, just because you feel that you have a better chance at surviving if you do, of protecting the ones you care about. Cunning as hell, Granger."

The girl smiled brightly at him.

"Always thought that I would do well in your house. I have so many big dreams... half of my house mates just wish to be Aurors or something predictable like that. When this is over, I'm going into politics. You will not recognize the ministry when I'm done with it... Sadly, I knew it was not an option for me since I read about Salazar Slytherin before coming to Hogwarts." Draco looked at her, his smirk fading away. "It's okay. Gryffindor is a good house, Ravenclaw would have been too. It doesn't really matter, in the end the ones who want it enough are the ones who make it far, the houses are irrelevant." He nodded at that.

"You are right, It's irrelevant... but just so you know, you really would have done well in Slytherin." Draco said with a determined voice and she smiled again.


	25. Coping mechanism.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!! Here is another chapter!! Let me know what you thought✨✨✨
> 
> Ps. I’ve checked but sorry if you find any errors in this one!

Monday came with the unfortunately reminder that the exams were next week so they needed to study. Like really study. At least, that was what Hermione told everyone who spoke to her.

Pansy and Blaise were actually hiding from her. Draco would have done the same if it weren’t for the burning feeling on his chest that was begging him to fix the things with Potter, again. Revising right next to the boy was the easiest way to be near without having to actually talk about that bloody weekend.

One problem, though: Ginevra was sitting on the boy’s lap. 

Hermione tried to very casually suggest that maybe they could go and spend time with each other somewhere else; Draco was thinking:’Yes, somewhere else. Any other place. Leave. Be disgusting in private.’ Ron agreed with her that this was rather unnecessary. 

Draco was having trouble keeping the coughs to a minimum. He had evolved to cough, in a very controlled manner, with his mouth close. The petals would accumulate there and the blond boy would swallowed them. After an hour or so, his mouth tasted like blood and daffodils. So fucking disgusting.

Ginevra laughed of something that Potter did and kissed him on the nose. Draco fought the urge to have a coughing fit right there. 

“Draco.” He heard the voice and looked up. The hazel-eyed was holding his books, standing in front of the table... Talking to him in front of everyone. He blinked.

“Theo.” 

They hadn’t spoken since Sunday morning. The blond boy thought that maybe Theodore regretted the time they spent together that way.

“I need help with Potions.” The brunette said while the corner of his mouth twitched upwards (with a very small gesture). Draco just shrugged and indicated him to sit next to him. The boy shook his head.

“I’m busy right now. After dinner.” 

And Draco watched him go, being indecently handsome and flirty in the most subtle way possible. 

Weasley was watching him, a glint of mischief in his eyes, of complicity.

“Potions” The redhead pronounced every letter dragging it along, enjoying how red Draco’s face got. Hermione hit his head with a book an furiously wrote something in a parchment, looking sideways to check that the happy couple weren’t looking. He leaned to read what it said.

’He is not out. Ginny doesn’t know. Shut your mouth.’

Then she broke the piece of parchment and returned to her book.

Potter seemed to be unaware of what Theodore had implied. That, or he simply did not care anymore. The daffodils started to hurt him again. 

———————

Theodore's kisses were, probably, his new favorite thing in the world. The daffodils didn't agree, though.

The hazel-eyed boy was kissing his neck, Draco grabbed the boy's face and guided him to put his lips over his. He needed to stop thinking. He was seeing the scene in his head: Potter's lovey-dovey eyes when he looked at Ginevra, the redhead sitting on his lap, the way they kissed. The blond boy wanted to shut down his brain, and he only knew a way to do it.

Draco sat on the boy's lap, he heard him moan between the kiss. Theo pulled away just a little so he could speak, smirk in place.

"Did the Golden boy went all cave man on you, after I talked to you on the library?." Draco snorted and a petal escaped from his mouth.

"He doesn't care, Theo."

The brunette kissed him softly before whispering in his ear.

"Yes, he does. He sees me as a fucking threat and I'm loving it."

The mischief in his hazel eyes was the most indecent thing that the blond boy had seen in his short life. Draco laughed and called him a deluded idiot before pushing him to lay on the mattress and kissing him again.

———————

So... Draco had developed a new coping mechanism for the Hanahaki, basically. Every time he saw Potter with Ginevra, he would excuse himself and marched off to find Theodore.

The brunette was, mostly, still busy, but Draco found himself persuading him more than one time to use the Room of Requirement for something else entirely. He just wished that he could distract him so much that he would forget the mission all together.

He was returning from the Room of Requirement, it was almost dinner time and he needed to meet Blaise and Pansy. He was fixing his tie when he found Potter sitting alone by a window on the seventh floor. 

The boy didn’t seem to notice him standing there, he kept looking at the window. The drops of rain were sliding down the glass. Draco couldn’t help to stare at the beautiful boy while he watched the rain fall. 

He felt like it had been years since he saw Potter alone and brooding, in his very handsome and poetic way, with his green eyes full of emotions. The daffodils started to move inside him. ‘HE IS SO GORGEOUS.’To which he internally responded ‘Yes, I fucking know already’.

“Why don’t you join me? That way you can, at least, stare in a more comfortable way.” Potter said in a sassy tone, his eyes still looking through the window.

He felt the heat invading his face: cheeks, nose and ears. The flowers were thrilled that the boy simply knew that it was him. He forced himself to hold his breath as he walked towards the window and sat in front of him.

The green-eyed boy didn’t look at him, and the stayed in silence for a while... Looking through the window. The boy broke the silence.

“I was right.” Draco just stared at him, confused. Potter didn’t even look at him to explain. “I told you that, if you flirted with him or something, then he would see you: I was right.” The boy snorted. “Now, he can’t even keep his hands to himself for an entire day.”

Draco frowned, he sensed the annoyance in the green-eyed boy... He just couldn’t figure out why was he annoyed. 

’Yes, he does. He sees me as a fucking threat and I'm loving it.’

Could it be?... The daffodils were dancing around, so very happy, inside of him. He resisted the urge to cough.

“Well... I’m not complaining, Potter.” His green eyes glared at him.

“You should. You deserve more than the way he uses you.”

Poor, naive, Golden boy... He didn’t have a clue that, actually, it was the other way around. Theo was the one who took care of him when he was a mess. Theo was the one who offered to be a distraction for him. Theo was the one who asked to keep his first coughed up daffodil. Draco felt kind of guilty about it.

He didn’t want to use Theodore, but he felt like he might just cough daffodils all over the school if he didn’t. The blond boy actually tried to ask the boy about his feelings a few times ,but Theo would just kiss his doubts away or he would tell him to shut up; and the conversations ended right there.

“He is not using me. Believe me, Potter: I’m not doing anything that I don’t wish to do.” 

The green-eyed didn’t respond. His eyes were on the bloody window again, moody face in place. After a while he decided that maybe he didn’t want to hear the answer but he was going to ask anyway.

“How are you with your Weasley princess? You seem happy.” Draco asked with his very best fake smile. Potter sighed.

“I don’t know...” Then, he checked to see that they were alone in the hallway, and looked at Draco. “You know how my dad looks at Padfoot?” The boy asked in a low voice, Draco just nodded. “I want that.” 

The blond boy rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, well, get in line.” 

“Oh shut up, Malfoy. You are not even in the line. You don’t even know what it’s like to be confused about your feelings.” 

Draco just stared at him, eyes wide. The boy sighed.

“Sorry.”

“It’s okay, Potter.”

The boy looked troubled... The flowers were moving, begging him to get closer, to help with whatever he needed. He wished he could have some time alone in his own mind. 

“I like her, I care about her... I just... How do I know if I love her? Shouldn’t it feel earth-shattering or something?”

“Why are you asking yourself this? You barely have been dating for a couple of weeks.” He said trying to appear aloof even thought he was dying  to know.

Potter rested his head against the arc of the window and sighed.

“Everyone just keeps making jokes.”

“Like what?” The boy looked at him from the corner of his eye, hesitant.

“That we are going to get married and stuff.” 

His mouth was forming a little pout. Draco thought it was the cutest thing he ever saw. The flowers were so confused by the conversation that he didn’t even cough at the thought of Potter marring the she-weasel.

“I always thought you would.” The blond boy said shrugging.

The green-eyed boy blushed terribly, and frowned at him.

“Why?”

“Call it a hunch, Potty.”

The boy crossed his arms and looked at the rain again. Draco wished to draw him just like that, so handsome and moody. So very Potter. 

“It doesn’t feel like the song.” The boy said in a very low voice, almost like a whisper. Draco hummed in understanding, he meant ‘Love of my life’.

Maybe he would regret this, but fuck it.

“It doesn’t have to feel like that.” The boy turned to look at him, expectant. “Did you know that John Deacon wrote ‘You’re my best friend’ to his wife? Sirius told me.” Potter just shook his head. “That’s another way of loving someone. You don’t need pain and angst to love more or something. You just fall in love and that’s it.” 

The dark-haired boy was looking at him. Draco felt like those green eyes were looking for answers in the most deep places hidden inside of him. Draco swallowed the petals that tried to get out from his mouth. Something in that moment felt intimate, mesmerizing. The blush in his cheeks was getting worst.

“But that’s just it, isn’t it?” Potter started to say. “You fall in love. I don’t feel like I fell from anywhere.”

And it was so pure when he said it. So innocent. Draco’s mouth twitched in amusement before bursting into laughter.

“This is why I don’t like to talk about feelings. Everyone just laughs.” The boy huffed, and Draco laughed even harder.

“I’m sorry! But it’s just how it’s called! It doesn’t mean anything.” He responded between the laughs.

The green eyes were still looking at him. Potter hesitated to talk.

“Didn’t it feel like falling to you?”

Draco blinked. He remembered those big green eyes and the crooked glasses with the baggy clothes. He remembered the first sassy response he got from the boy on the train. He remembered seeing the boy catching the remembrall at the first quidditch class...

The petals escaped from his mouth as he coughed.

“Yes... It did.”

And Potter’s green eyes looked more conflicted than ever.


	26. June 5th.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!! Oh I really hope you like this one💕💕 The end of the sixth book is near ✨ Tell me what you thought! 
> 
> Ps. I’ve checked but sorry if you find any errors in this one

Harry couldn't shake the feeling that being with Ginny was good. And the question was: if it's good then what's the problem? Well, he had expected it to be great.He had expected it to be this earth-shattering moment when he finally got to kiss her... And yes, he was really happy and it felt right to kiss her, but that was just it. Her hair was nice, her lips were soft, she was fun, and he really care for her... But why did he have this feeling of emptiness? What did he felt like it was not enough?  
  
This was exactly why he didn't want to make a move on her. Now he found himself dating Ginny and he couldn't even talk to Ron about how he felt, because it was his sister. At least he had that one talk with Draco about it...

Harry tried to resist the urge to open the map that was in the pocket of his robe. He was checking on the blond boy too bloody often. Hermione had already told him off for it, saying that it was an invasion of his privacy and that it wasn't right. He knew it was borderline stalker behavior at this point. He knew it all and still he couldn't stop himself from checking the map before he fell asleep, just to see if Malfoy was spending the night with Nott. The answer to that question was usually yes and the green-eyed boy found himself experiencing an uncomfortable pull on his stomach each time.

Since he could not stop himself from checking the map at night, he had started to restrict himself from checking it during the day. Mostly he could manage it. Maybe. Sometimes. At least he didn't check on it all the time.

He was at the Great hall with Hermione and Ron, they were hanging out, when Parkinson and Zabini approached them and sat beside them.

"The super secret meeting starts now. Granger close your book, this is more important." said the petit girl with her bossy tone.

The three of them looked at her, confused expressions on their faces.

"Where is Draco?" He asked, arching and eyebrow.

"Dragon is rather occupied right now, which is perfect because we don't need him listening to this."

Harry glanced around the Great hall to see if , by any chance, Nott was around. He wasn't, of course he wasn't. 'Occupied seems to be a synonymous of shagging apparently'.

"Yeah, no. I'm not hiding things or lying to the ferret, learned my lesson."

"Ronald, don't be ridiculous. This must be because Draco's birthday it's on Friday."

"Indeed, Granger." Parkinson replied.  
"Every year we have a big party in the common room but he said that he didn't feel like it this year... So, we were thinking that maybe we could do something, the seven of us. Vince and Greg are in a weird place with Draco right now so they are not coming."

Seven. Of course, Nott was going to be there.

"We can use the Room of Requirement and hang out there. It's kind of like a surprise party." Zabini explained to them.

His best friends seemed delighted with the idea, Harry was just thinking that he could barely stand to look at the brunette, much less exist in the same fucking place for a few hours.

He was too distracted with his own thoughts, that he didn't realize that Parkinson had asked him a question.  
Hermione pushed him a little to make him snap out of it.

“What?” He asked in an annoyed tone.

“You are coming, right?”

Well, he didn’t want to. At least, not with Nott there. But Draco did all these amazing things for Harry on his birthday...

“Yeah.”

————————

Friday morning, the golden trio found themselves having breakfast at the Slytherin table.

Harry had an argument with Ginny the previous night because he was going to spend breakfast and dinner with the Slytherins. It was the most ridiculous fight ever.

“I’m just saying that it seems too much. You are doing the party for something.” She stated as if what she was saying was the most logical thing in the world.

“That’s kind of the point, the party is a surprise. He just asked us to have breakfast with him.” The girl didn’t seemed convince though, but she chuckled anyway.

“It’s so weird that you are friends. I thought it was creepy when he and Ron started to hang out...but the fact that it’s you makes it even worst.”

Harry frowned and didn’t answer her. He was kind of waiting for her to notice that he didn’t like what she said. It was useless, the girl just kissed him like the conversation hadn’t even happen.

Everyone was giving Malfoy their presents. A book from Mione, make-up from Parkinson, a very fancy scarf from Zabini and a chess set from Ron. Malfoy smiled at each present and said that it wasn’t necessary. Harry new that the translation of that statement was: ‘I’m dying, stop spending money.’ 

He hated that the boy was actually having sex with the love of his life and, still, he was sick. It was like a cruel joke: first the argument was that he wouldn’t ever look at the blond because he was a guy; and now the thing was that they had this ‘physical relationship’ that didn’t involve feelings.

How could Malfoy have sex with Nott without feelings? But Harry knew that Draco did have feelings and Nott was the twat who took advantage of that. What a fucking prick.

His present was in the pocket of his robe. He didn’t want to give it to Malfoy in front of everyone. It was just this stupid thing that the blond boy would get. He had bought it on the last trip to Hogsmade as a joke, and then he decided that maybe it wasn’t an awful birthday gift.

When they started to walk to class, Harry grabbed Draco’s arm to make them go behind the rest of the group. The blond boy stared at him confused as he slowed his pace.

The green-eyed boy took the little package from his robe and extended his hand to give it to him.

“Happy birthday...” He said as the Malfoy took the gift in his hands. “It’s kind of stupid but I thought you might like it.”

Harry wished he would blush from embarrassment around him. Ron just kept sending this looks when he did.

The blond boy ripped of the paper and stared at the little remembrall in his hand. Wide eyed, a soft smile appearing on his face. 

He thought, for a moment, that Draco had coughed, maybe because of the way his chest rose up... but no petals came out, and then the boy smiled widely at him. Harry couldn’t articulate a single thought.

“Thank you, Harry.”

He said it. He called Harry by his given name without him  asking him to. 

The blond boy put the little ball on his pocket and kept walking to class with a very good mood. 

The green-eyed boy was too dumbfounded to even respond.

———————-

Everyone was already in the Room of Requirement. Well, everyone except for Malfoy and Nott.

Apparently the plan was that the brunette could get him to the room without rising suspicions. Harry just snorted when Zabini said that.

The place was decorated with green. It didn’t look like the Slytherin common room but it was pretty close to it. There were couches and a fireplace. 

On the corner of the room there was a stereo, that was an specific request from Harry himself. He had asked for the Cd’s to Draco, saying that he wanted to listen to them for a while, and the blond boy gave them to him without complaining.

The room was silent except for the sound of their voices. Then, they heard someone walking into the room, so they shut their mouths.

“Don’t take the blindfold off until I say so.” Nott said as he guided him to the center of the room, where the rest of them were.

“Theodore, If you are not naked when I take this off, I’m going to be pissed.” The blond boy said in a playful tone.

Harry felt the pull in his stomach again. They were interrupting. They shouldn’t be here... They should leave them to do that and celebrate Malfoy’s birthday alone. The rest of his friends were fighting not to laugh.

“Now.” 

And Draco screamed in excitement when he saw them standing there.

“I’ve never had a surprise party before!” His smile was so bright that Harry couldn’t help but to stare.

The party went by between impressions of the professors, anecdotes from years before and sometimes a game of ‘would you rather’, which entailed Malfoy asking something totally ridiculous and Harry refusing to answer.

At some point, Draco said that listening to Queen on the background was a waste, choose one of the Albums and turned up the volume.

Zabini and Parkinson danced with him, maybe at some point Hermione did too (even if it was for a short period of time). Ron and him were sitting on the couch with Nott beside them, watching them dance.

‘Don’t stop me now’ came on and the blond boy jumped in his place, happy. Then, he turned around and walked over to where they were, determined.

“You are dancing with me, come on.” He said to the brunette at the other end of the couch.

“Why?” The prick asked. 

Malfoy just pushed his hair back and smirked at the boy.

“Because it’s my birthday and I’m asking you to.”

Harry hated that they had this weird way of communicating with each other. Like there was always something that only those two could understand, even if they were having the conversation in front of everyone and not in a subtle way.

Nott stood up and walked towards to where the boy was dancing before, waiting for the blond boy to follow.

“I think Nott actually likes him.” He heard his best friend say. “I just wish this would be faster, I want him to be cured already.” And Harry only nodded at that.

Of course he wanted Draco to be cured... but, at the same time, he couldn’t see Malfoy marring Nott. Being happy for ever and ever... No, Harry looked at them and wished he would not know. He wished he wouldn’t even understand how deep the blond boy loved that prick. 

‘I'm burnin' through the sky, yeah  
Two hundred degrees  
That's why they call me Mister Fahrenheit  
I'm traveling at the speed of light  
I wanna make a supersonic woman of you ‘

Nott clearly knew how to dance, he lead Malfoy into the twirls he wanted, and everything seemed to be done with such ease, such familiarity... The pull in his stomach got worst.

‘Don't stop me, don't stop me  
Don't stop me, hey, hey, hey  
Don't stop me, don't stop me  
Ooh ooh ooh, I like it’

The smile in Draco’s face was huge, Harry thought that he never saw him so care free around people. Maybe with Padfoot and not always. 

‘Don't stop me, don't stop me  
Have a good time, good time  
Don't stop me, don't stop me, ah  
Oh yeah  
Alright’

The guitar solo started and maybe it was because of the song, maybe it was because they didn’t care about people watching, or maybe they just wanted to: Nott and Malfoy kissed.

It was brief, like the kiss you give to someone you are going to be kissing later, but it was so intimate... 

And then, Harry had an earth-shattering realization. 

Every moment he ever lived with the blond boy passed in front of his eyes. Every fight, every banter through the years. The department of Mysteries. Their summer at Grimmauld. The Patronus lesson... 

Their talks, his grey eyes, the way that his nose wrinkled when he saw something he didn’t like. His blond hair pushed back, his hair messy in the mornings at Grimmauld. Malfoy cooking, his right cheek covered in flour.

Draco mocking Ron, laughing with Parkinson, resting his head on Zabini’s shoulder, him talking about theory of magic with Hermione.

’Harry, you can’t keep looking at Draco on the map. It’s getting creepy.’

’Can we NOT talk about the ferret for like an hour?’

’Yes, because this is NOT a lame attempt of getting him to talk to you.’

’Ohhh! Are you finally admitting that you like him?? This is awesome!’

It felt like falling. Harry didn’t know if he wanted to cry from happiness or from sadness. 

It felt like falling and the blond boy was smiling to the love of his life in front of him.

It felt like falling and Harry was dating someone he definitely wasn’t in love with.

It felt like falling and he knew it was impossible for Draco to love someone else, someone other than him.

It felt like falling but Harry just stayed there, frozen in place, looking at Draco dancing with someone else.


	27. Goodbyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here it is! I hope you like it! I was thinking that I could start the second book in another fic (like a series), what do you think? Tell me in the comments! ✨
> 
> Ps: I’ve checked but I’m sorry if you find any errors in this one

The air felt different. Draco didn’t like it. He had this undeniable hunch that something was meant to go to shit in the foreseeable future, and he was so scare that he started to say goodbye to everyone.

“Darling, you are scaring me. What’s wrong? Is it the Hanahaki?” Pansy asked with a worried tone. Draco shook his head.

“I just wanted to tell you that I love you both.” He replied with a kind voice... Blaise didn’t believe him.

“Dragon. Stop. We still have time...” 

Blaise said that because he knew, he was aware that Draco was leaving and he was not coming back. Much less with the few time he had left, he wasn’t about to spend it with his abusive father in the manor.

“This feels different. Just-“ He sighed. “Let me enjoy being with you as much as I can. Let’s not talk about it, but know that I’m going to miss you immensely.” And he pulled the both of them into a hug, tears started to come out of his eyes. “You do whatever you need to do to survive. Promise me.”

He felt Pansy resting her head on his chest, something wet started to stain his shirt... Her voice was so weak and pleading that Draco wanted to keep hugging her forever, just to make her feel a little better.

“That-... That goes to you as well. Do whatever you need to do Draco. You already have the death sentence, please try to have the option of being alive.”

Which was a very nice way of asking the blond boy to make Potter fall in love with him. 

“I can’t promise you anything, I’ve been trying since I was eleven and it hasn’t work so far.” He said with a fun tone, trying to light up the mood.

The petit girl just took his face in her hands to force him to look at her.

“You haven’t. You were too afraid to do something about it, because of many reasons, one of them being your prick of a father.” She said determined. “I need you to forget about those reasons and just go for it. If we are lucky, we’ll see each other when this is all over.”

The tears were cursing down her cheeks; the other boy stood behind her with a sad look on his face. 

“We’ll see each other at the end of this, one way or another.” Blaise said. “Let’s just hope that it’ll be in this realm.”

And they cried for a little longer, before planing what they were going to do that week. Draco was going to spend every minute, of every bloody day he had left, with them. He just wished it would be enough to say goodbye.

——————-

Severus was in his office, revising some of the last essays that were handed in, when he saw Draco enter the room his eyes clouded with worried.

“Draco... Is something wrong?” He asked with a kind voice.

“I don’t know how this is going to work,especially with your particular situation...” He took a deep breath before continuing. “I just wanted you to know that I love you, Severus. I don’t know if we are going to see each other after the year is over, so I wanted to tell you.”

The man stood up and walked to where he was and pulled him into a hug. It wasn’t the first time that he hugged Draco, but this one felt different.

“I know. I love you too... I’m glad you have someone to take care of you. Even if it’s Potter and Black.” Draco smiled and then asked the most feared question on his mind.

“How long do you think we have?” His godfather stayed quiet for a few moments before responding.

“Not long.”

————————- 

The only good news about all of this was that he didn’t need to say goodbye to the Gryffindors. It was in moments like this when he was grateful of followed them to the ministry in fifth year. 

One year with Hanahaki already, it could only go downhill from there.

He needed to say goodbye to Theo, though. He couldn’t find it in him, to be honest. He wanted the boy to defect and come with him... He was so sure that they could find a secure place for him to live alone and peaceful. And if not, Sirius and Mr. Potter would love Theodore, they had the same brilliant sense of humor.

He just needed to convince him, somehow.

He was walking towards the Room of Requirement in the seventh floor, he always needed to pass near the Gryffindor tower to get there. As he got closer, he started to hear Weasley talking.

“You can’t just do this, mate. What happened?”

There was no response; Draco started to walk towards the entrance of their common room. When he got there, the Golden Trio was standing next to the portrait.

“Harry, don’t ignore us. We can’t help you if you don’t tell us what’s wrong.”

“Hey.” Draco said with a hesitant tone. 

The three of them turned to look at him. Potter seemed almost scare to see him, big green eyes looking at him. Then, the boy casually looked to the hallway that was the way towards the Room of Requirement.

“Draco... Hi. What are you doing here?” The boy asked. It was a dumb question, he already knew the answer. He didn’t want to fight, though. And every time the blond boy mentioned Theodore they ended up in an argument or an awkward silence.

“I was passing by and I heard you. Did something happen?” He asked curious. Clearly, something had happened because the boy looked like shit and the other two had worried faces on.

“Yes, ferret, Harry actually-“

“Nothing happened.” The boy cut Weasley short.

Everyone, except for the green-eyed boy frowned. The flowers inside of him were getting so angry and hurt, he needed to find Theodore before he started to have a coughing fit.

“Fine, have your little secrets. I have something better to do anyway.” He said in an aloof way and turned to walk off of there. He could swear he heard Potter mumbled something like: ‘someone to do seems more like it’. Draco didn’t have the energy to fight the prat who lived right now.

———————

It was weird, he was spending more time with Pansy and Blaise, trying to live as many things as he could with them before, well, everything. 

It felt rather familiar to be watching the Golden Trio from his table, counting the times that Potter smiled... Which were like two, Draco was getting worried.

He didn’t see Potter with Ginevra anymore. He supposed that they evolved to be disgusting in private, as the adult and well behaved people did. But the boy seemed unhappy, and Draco did not like that, not in the least.

A paper crane flew to him, it had to be Theo’s, his mother used to teach them how to do origami and the charm to make them move... Draco took it in his hands and opened it.

‘Our bedroom tonight. Wear those indecent jeans that your cousin gave to you.’

Draco blushed terribly and put the note in his pocket. His face was Gryffindor red, he knew.

“Prince Charming?” Pansy asked with a smirk.

“Shut it, Pans.” He hissed as he took a sip from his tea.

When he looked again at the Gryffindor table, Potter was not there anymore.

———————— 

Draco knew that something was wrong since the moment that Theo entered the room.

They kissed and the blond boy knew that the boy was trying to tell him something with it. And with every touch it was more and more evident: he was saying goodbye.

Draco wanted to cry but he knew that it wouldn’t be good for either of them.

When they were done, they lay on the bed, looking at each other with kind eyes. Sometimes, Theo would look at his dark mark or hiss in pain. 

It was calling for him, the blond boy was sure of it. He saw it with his father. Binding contract, worst than marriage, because you can’t divorce the Dark Lord... He is like this toxic husband that you either stay with or cheat on (like Severus did by putting his loyalties in the Order).

“I bought you this.” Theo said as he grabbed a chocolate bar from Honeydukes and gave it to Draco. It was his favorite. The boy smiled and kissed him on the lips.

“Don’t you want to eat it? You love that stuff.” He just shook his head.

And then the boy offered him some water, with an almost pleading tone in his voice.

‘Darling, do you think that I’m stupid?’

He pretended to drink the water, barely touched his lips, and Theo didn’t seemed to notice. He must had been so bloody nervous.

He was not dumb, so he pretended to fall sleep as well. After a while, he felt the brunette kissing him on the forehead before getting of the bed and putting his clothes on.

“I’m sorry.” He heard him whisper before closing the door behind him.

Fuck. He needed to stop him. Draco got up from the bed and changed with the same clothes that he had chosen to meet Theo that night. The ripped light-blue jeans with a plain white t-shirt. He grabbed his combat boots and marched off of there, wand in hand.

The castles was quiet, but not the kind of quiet that he loved... it was quiet because people was expecting something bad to happen. He tried to get up the stairs as fast as he could.

He couldn’t be seen, he couldn’t stop Theodore before it because he would get stupefied by him and that would be it. No, he needed to be smart about this. He took the short-cut to the Room of Requirement, the one that left him two hallways away from there.

He was so close, what the hell could he do? How could he stop him from doing this incredible stupid shit.

“Kid! What the hell are you doing here??” Mr. Potter hissed as he saw Draco walking by, furious. “Did every single one of you decided to be idiots tonight?”

Sirius was right behind him, putting a hand in his shoulder.

“James, again, we did worst at their age. At least this is for a good cause.”

“Shut up, Padfoot. This is a nightmare. Now I understand my parents, Merlin.” 

The both of them were looking at Draco, he was actually speechless. Did everyone knew about Theodore trying to kill the bloody Headmaster?

“At least you drank the Felix felicis too, right?” Sirius asked. The blond boy just blinked.

“What?”

“The drops! Ginny said you all took some!” Mr Potter said with his very best indignant tone of voice.

“I- I gotta go to stop Theo.” Draco said as he started to walk again. “I don’t what the hell are you talking about, and I don’t care.” 

He felt Mr. Potter grabbing him by the shoulders to stop him.

“Let me go! He can’t do this!” 

“No, little cousin. Harry would kill us if we let you go over there without any protection.” Sirius said with a calm voice. Draco tried to free himself from the man’s arms but he couldn’t.

The noise of the fight started. The light from the spells were floating around, they saw Death Eaters running around the castle. Draco tightened the grip of his wand, tears started to appear in his eyes. He was so fucking useless, he could not stop him. Fuck.

“Well, well... look who we have here.”

That voice. Shit. The three of them turned around. Aunt Bella was looking at them with that vile smile on her face that Draco hated. Flashbacks of her trying to kill Sirius appeared on his mind. 

He pushed his cousin behind him, and held his wand, ready for the fight.

“Now, Draco. Let’s not be hasty.” She said with her mouth fixed in a fake pout, before bursting into her maniac laughter.

“You touch them and I kill you.” He hissed back.

Mr. Potter tried to get closer but Bellatix fired a spell their way. Draco fired a Petrificus Totalus right back.

“You ungrateful brat. Cissy has been crying for you since last year.” 

“Bombarda!” He casted at her. She moved so fast. She dodge the spell and pointed her wand at him again.

“Crucio!” 

Unbearable pain. Everywhere. He heard Sirius and Mr. Potter screaming. They couldn’t fire anything her way because they could hit Draco in the process. His veins were on fire. Not the first time he felt it, though. His father loved to cast it for a minute or two when he was ‘disrespectful’. 

Suddenly, everything was over. His aunt fell in the floor before him. He was falling right next to her, when someone caught him before hitting the ground. He blinked, slowly. He found worried hazel-eyes looking at him.

He tried to incorporate himself, cleaning some of the blood that was left in his mouth.

“How are you here?” 

“The next- “ His voice came out rough. He tried to clear his throat. “The next time you want to drug me, do it in a more subtle way.”

“Little cousin! Are you alright?” 

Draco just nodded and then he looked at Aunt Bella, lying on the floor. He raised his wand.

“Petrificus Totalus. Fucking lunatic.” 

“Take him.” Theodore pleaded Sirius and Mr. Potter. They nodded and started to drag Draco away, the blond boy freed himself from his cousin’s hand.

“No!” And Then, he hugged the brunette so very tightly. Tears escaping from his eyes. “Come with us. Defect. I love you so much, please don’t do this.” He pleaded. Theodore just looked at him with kind eyes.

“I can’t. I can’t leave my father.” 

And Draco started to cry even harder. He was ruining his entire life. 

“Don’t make this any more difficult, Draco. Please.”

He looked at the boy. His eyes were so sad and conflicted. Draco just had to try. Maybe Theodore would hate him for this but he was running out of options. 

He grabbed the hazel-eyed by the neck and put his mouth over his. He heard Mr. Potter and Sirius gasped behind them.

The kiss was passionate, raw, filled with need. ‘Run away with me please’. 

Theo slowed down the pace of the kiss until they stopped. Their foreheads were touching, as the boy took a deep breath.

“That was goodbye.” He whispered so softly and kind. Draco felt so fucking useless. “Be safe.”

“You too.” Draco said, tears coursing down his cheeks.

He felt Sirius put his arm around him and guide him away from there. Draco felt so numb, he turned his head to look at Theo one more time. 

The hazel eyed had his lips fixed in a fine line, when he saw Draco looking at him he mouthed:

‘I love you too’ 

And Draco started to cry again as he continued to walk away from him.

———————

The funeral was heartbreaking. When Potter told him that it had been Severus who casted the curse in the end, he felt like a promise had been broken. 

His hero, the man who he trusted when he didn’t have anyone but his mother... The one who had revealed himself at the headquarters last year as a spy for the Order, that very same man had killed Albus Dumbledore.

He wanted to disappear. He wanted to lock himself in a room and cry. Everyone left him, Severus, Theodore... 

He was crying in the Astronomy tower when he heard steps behind him. He turned around and found the Potter standing there. Draco tried to clean the tears off his face with the back of his hand.

“Did you came to tell me ‘I told you so’?” The blond boy asked in an annoyed tone. Potter walked quietly to where he was.

“No.” He said and sighed. “Dad told me what he did... That he saved you.” 

Draco just nodded. Suddenly, the boy pulled him into a hug. The blond boy widened his grey eyes, dumbfounded.

“I’m sorry that he didn’t chose you. He is so fucking wrong about that.” 

The tone of his voice, so honestly indignant by the fact that Draco wasn’t Theodore’s first choice. He couldn’t help to cough right there. Potter pulled away from the hug, cheeks sightly blushed, his worried green eyes were looking at him.

“Sorry.” He mumbled. “I didn’t want to make things worst.” 

“You didn’t, Potter.” Draco replied with a sad smile.

————————

The train at the end of term was awful. He sat with Pansy and Blaise and had to stop himself from crying the entire ride. He was going to miss him so much.

They didn’t say goodbye again. They just hugged a lot more than usual. 

When they were at the station neither Draco nor one of them turned to look back, they jus walked towards the people who were waiting for them with their head high.

Draco was thinking the entire time: Be as cunning as you can, survive. And he knew that Pansy and Blaise were internally asking the same from him.

Potter was already next to Sirius and Mr. Potter, waiting for him. 

Draco couldn’t find it in him to regret the less cunning decision he made on his life. Thinking that, probably, he would make a whole bunch of un-slytherin decisions if it meant to have the people he loved happy and safe.

“Ready to go home, kid?” Draco just smiled.

“Yes, let’s get the hell out of here.”


End file.
